A Life Relived
by Sivol
Summary: Harry had wanted nothing more than to know the family that he'd lost. With this in mind he traveled back in time using Hermione's time turner and made the discovery that just as Dumbledore had told him, not all was as it seemed.
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note:** _This story is an AU from book 5 and I make absolutely no promises about completing it. That being said, enjoy what is written when/if it comes. I've been having a MAJOR case of lack of motivation to write for a long while now and I am hoping that this story will fix that.

_**Warnings:** _Slash(in the later chapters), Time Travel, OOC characters, and probably several cliches.

**Chapter 1**

Harry had known not to mess with Hermione's time turner. She'd told him time and time again that if he were to mess up, he could wind up forced to stay in the future, or worse, the past where he could send a butterfly effect rippling throughout the universe. He'd heard what she said, but for some reason his mind wouldn't budge. The decision had been made and most importantly, he had access to a time turner.

He ran his thumb along the gold casing and turned it over, examining the knob. He gave one last look around to the Hogwarts he knew and twisted the knob two times clockwise, twice counterclockwise and another 4 clockwise. Everything around him shifted and moved as he was jolted into the past over twenty years ago. He fell to the ground as the scenery shifted and bent then settled down. As Harry's left hand hit the cool stone floor, his right hand hit the small metal and glass contraption that had brought him here, effectively breaking it. He swore and beat a fist on the floor, knowing that something like this just had to happen. Nothing was ever easy for him; he truly should have expected it.

A hand appeared on one of his own hands, grabbing the wrist and pulling him up. "Hello there little fellow, what are you doing here?" A worried voice called. It was a male voice and when Harry looked up, he was relieved to see himself staring at a slightly younger looking Dumbledore. Surely Dumbledore would understand, of all people. The old man pulled Harry up, and up, and up. He was holding him like a child.

It was then that Harry realized something rather peculiar. His clothes were far too big. After a brief moment of self-examination, he came upon another startling conclusion. He had the body of a small child. He huffed and crossed his arms, frowning up to Dumbledore. "I'm not a child."

Albus simply chuckled and gave the boy a pat on the head. "Of course not, you're a big boy. Now, where are your parents? Surely you've become lost from them, and why in the world are you wearing those clothes?"

Harry rolled his eyes, seeing that he wasn't going to get very far with the man unless he proved it. "My parents are dead. You want proof I'm not a child? Ask me a question a 5th year would know!" He tried.

Dumbledore found it rather odd that a child this young could be speaking in such complete and proper sentences. He kept this thought in the back of his head and decided to humor the boy he was carrying. "All right, what kind of potions do 5th years have to learn?" He asked, bearing in mind that the child could have a brother who was a 5th year. "Later in the year, not this early… it is, after all, only October."

Harry's eyes flashed and he pondered for a moment. "The Draught of Peace; we learned that in March this last year." He said, giving a nod of self-satisfaction.

Albus chuckled and shook his head, booping the boy on the nose. "I'm afraid we don't teach that until 6th year."

Harry huffed. "Headmaster Dumbledore, come on! I went back in time with a time turner."

Dumbledore slowed his walking to a halt and looked at the boy curiously. "I am not the headmaster either, I am the transfiguration professor." He had been thinking of applying for Headmaster however he'd told no one of it… perhaps this boy was speaking the truth and perhaps that lesson had been bumped down a grade as children got smarter. He picked up his pace again and shifted his weight some as they made their way to the Headmaster's office. He followed the idea that the children were smarter in the generations to come and that what was currently 6th year curriculum would have been 5th year for the child in his arms. "What happens in transfiguration then?"

Harry wiggled some trying to get loose. Really, he was perfectly capable of walking. "Vanishing spells and conjuring inanimate objects. Would you put me down?"

Albus' heart started pounding in its chest. Could this truly be as the boy said? "Is there something that you can tell me that only I would know?" He asked, looking at Harry in the eyes.

Harry pondered this for a moment before nodding. "You've an accurate map of the London underground on your leg or knee somewhere."

"Merlin's sake, it's true… I've not told anyone that, in fact I was saving it for a very special occasion." He held the boy up by the underarms and looked him over. "How old are you really?"

"Finally," Harry said with a hint of exasperation. "I'm 15."

"Ah yes, I should have known what with you being a 5th year… I say, how does one handle a situation like this?" He continued walking, not thinking to put the boy down. He changed his direction to his own quarters instead of the Headmaster's office. He had known that Harry would have been 15, it was simple deduction from his stating he was a 5th year and merely a test for the boy. "Do you have a way back to your own time?"

"No, the time turner broke." Harry muttered, laying his head on Dumbledore's shoulder. It had been so long since someone had carried him… he couldn't even remember the last time.

"I see… how did you wind up in such a younger body?" Albus opened the door to his room and locked it behind him, setting the boy on the couch as he took the chair and begin taking detailed notes.

Harry shrugged. "I have no idea. I guess it's like Hermione had said, something to do with how we're not meant to travel this far back in time…" He swung his feet to and fro.

"And your name, boy?"

"Harry Potter."

Albus paused for a moment. Potter? The Potters only had the one boy and that was James. Was this boy James' son? He took a long, good look at Harry and stared intently. He was thin, very thin, but his face certainly carried a bit of a potter charm to it, and he definitely had the Potter hair.

The two worked into the night, Albus asking Harry everything he needed to know to find out whether or not he could send him back to his own time. After much researching, several trips to the library, an energy potion, and contacting every witch and wizard he knew that might know anything about a time turner, he came to a startling conclusion. "My boy, I fear I only have the worst news for you." He said to Harry as he paced the room with a book in his hand. He slammed the book closed and looked to the child. "There is no way to get you back to the future without the contraption that brought you here, and that was smashed to smithereens. You will have to stay here."

Harry groaned and flopped down on the couch. "How long?"

"Probably until you grow old and die, my boy. There is no way without the piece that brought you; we can't simply use another to send you back, and on top of that they haven't even been invented yet to my knowledge." He gave a sympathetic look and patted the boy's head. "We can't leave you alone here, people would talk what with a child so young running around without parents… you need to be put into someone's home, you need to be adopted. I can draw up the papers for you… do you know by whom you would like to be adopted?" He asked, setting in on the task he'd just assigned himself.

Harry thought for a moment. "What about the Potters?"

"Too suspicious, considering you look so much like the Potters… plus we shall have to give you a more permanent change of look." He hmm'd to himself and suddenly an idea struck them. "I know just the people. The Blacks have been considering having another child, and it's a rich family so you wouldn't want for anything… I will contact Orion first thing in the morning. In the meantime, you need to-" He looked to Harry who was snoozing lightly on the couch and smiled to himself. "-get some rest." He mumbled as he finished the paperwork.

Throughout the night Albus had set up everything and transfigured the couch into a bed. When the morning came he spoke with Orion and Walburga Black, assuring them that he'd found the most wonderful child who could be adopted by them. They agreed only on one condition; they perform a bonding ceremony. Albus didn't think twice about it and agreed, and soon the couple had come by the school to see the child that the old man spoke of.

There was no real want for the child other than status and a second option to give the family money to should their first child turn out to be a dud. The Blacks agreed and soon Harry was being woken up with a shake. "Huh-wha?" He asked, looking around and blinking. He took one look at the woman and froze. This was the woman in the portrait that would yell at them when they went into the Black household. This was Sirius' mother. His heart started fluttering when he realized that he would be living with Sirius. He could finally know the godfather that he never knew!

They explained to him about the bonding ceremony, using small words since the couple thought him to merely be a small child, but Harry wasn't listening. He was lost in lala-land, his thoughts swirling around one of the most important men in his life. He'd barely caught the last thing that was said to him. "-and you'll have to have a different name."

He glanced up to the couple and nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly. "Okay, I can change my name."

Walburga was impressed at his speaking skills, but what was even more impressive was how easily and readily he agreed to everything. "And the idea of blood doesn't scare you?"

Harry frowned and shook his head. "Not really. I've been bled out before." When he saw the shock on the woman's face he remembered that he was supposed to be 4 or 5. "Er, I had an owie… and it… hurt." He tried, rubbing on his elbow.

Walburga was suspicious as to exactly how he'd been raised but she didn't say anything. In her mind he was as good as it got; free, unknown blood status so stating that he was a pureblood couldn't be disproved, and with a bonding ceremony he technically would be theirs and it would show up with any family line scans. The best part about all of this, the Ministry didn't have to be involved.

Soon the ritual was underway and Harry was having things poked at him from all directions. A wand here, a paper there, a quill from the right, an ink pot from the left; he signed a sheet and was suddenly pricked with a needle on his forefinger. He jolted lightly and watched in awe as some magic was performed by Dumbledore and his blood swirled out of his finger. He was surprised when Walburga and Orion had the same thing happen to them. When all three of their blood mixed and entered back into him he fell to the ground, hitting his back and just barely knocking his head against the cold floor.

Walburga swooped down and picked him up with a smile. "As long as you follow the rules, your life will be heaven. We shall call you… Sirius Black." She stated with a nod.

Harry took in a gasp and soon the dark fingers of sleep were wrapping around his mind, pulling him under. Harry Potter was Sirius Black.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: **_I switch from the name Harry to Sirius about halfway through as that's when he starts thinking of himself as Sirius.

**Chapter 2**

Harry awoke in what was quite possibly the most comfortable bed he'd ever had the pleasure of laying on. It was soft; there had to be an entire layer of foam between the springs and the top, and what's more it felt like there was a layer of feathers as well. He groaned and turned over, blinking his eyes open. As much as he wanted to smile and feel like everything was at peace in the world, he couldn't shake the feeling he had.

Harry was Sirius Black. There was no denying it, and everything fit perfectly. There was no recollection by anyone of Sirius' life before he was about 5, and Sirius himself had always seemed to fly through things with ease as though he'd already known them from the stories that he and Remus had told Harry. This was earth-shattering. Why hadn't Sirius- er, he, why hadn't he told himself who he was? Would he have even believed himself? Of course not, nobody would believe a tale like that, it was positively preposterous.

He sighed and realized that he'd been staring at a house elf who was staring back at him. "Kreacher?" He asked, sitting up and tilting his head to the side.

The elf's eyes widened and he bowed to the boy. "Master Sirius." He said, acknowledging him and reaching out a finger to prod the boy's nose. "Kreacher is supposed to give Master Sirius a tour of the noble and most ancient house of Black." Harry thought for a moment about what he should do first, but all thought was erased from his mind when he went to step away from the bed. Being used to having a much taller body meant that he was nothing more than clumsy with a body like this. He fell, face first to the floor and Kreacher rushed over to him, helping him up. "Master Sirius, is you okay?" He asked, worried that he'd get a thrashing if he were to allow the boy to hurt himself.

"Sorry, just… Okay, a tour?" He asked, looking exasperated with the whole situation. Sirius… he needed to get used to be called by that name. He didn't really pay attention as the elf toured him as he already knew the house inside and out thanks to this being the place that was used by the Order of the Phoenix.

Kreacher had realized that Sirius wasn't paying attention and this irritated him. It was possibly the worst first impression he could have made on the house elf; not paying attention to something that the elf's dearest mistress had ordered… it was completely rude in his eyes and the boy wasn't worthy of the name Black because of his disrespect. He didn't say anything about it; however it was kept tucked away in the back of his mind for the future.

By the time the tour was over, only half over really as the elf didn't wish to waste his time with someone who wasn't even paying attention, Harry had found himself in the kitchen. He had been spending his time marveling at how tall everything seemed when he was this short. He couldn't really remember things like that from his childhood, and having a chance to relive it…

Regulus came into the room and sneered at the boy. He walked up in front of him and invaded his personal space. "You're not a real Black… Do what I say and I won't hurt you." He warned, narrowing his eyes and attempting to be just as intimidating as his father was when he was dealing with people in his office.

Harry narrowed his eyes in return. He'd already gone through one childhood getting bossed around; there was no way he was going to deal with that again. "Just try me." He said threateningly, reaching his hand to his waist where he normally kept his wand. A spark of fear ran through him when he realized that he had no wand to call his own. That hadn't travelled back in time with him! He would need to get his own from Ollivander. In the mean time he'd just have to practice with his wandless magic. He'd already known that he had an affinity for it, that much had been obvious since he was a child.

Regulus smirked and pushed Sirius back into the cabinets, advancing on him. "You're not tough." He stated, not bothering to think about how weird it was that this boy was talking better than he was yet was supposed to be younger.

Harry snarled and pushed Regulus off of him. "You don't know what I've done!" He yelled, trying his own hand at being threatening. "Don't touch _me_ and I won't hurt _you_." Regulus pulled back an arm and punched the boy in the shoulder, landing the blow fairly hard for his size and weight. Harry growled and closed his eyes. "Carpe Retractum!" He called out. He opened his eyes and realized something that he'd wished he would have known moments ago… the body's magical core was not as strong as it had been and he had to build it back up.

Regulus seized the opportunity to become the next big bully in the boy's life and pounced on his younger brother, sending him to the ground in a flurry of hits. Most of them wouldn't leave a mark however at least two would bruise. "WHAT DID YOU TRY TO DO TO ME?" He demanded, not having ever heard that spell before. He clocked Harry in the jaw.

"Sirius! Regulus!" A voice snapped from the doorway. The two turned their heads to see a very put off Walburga Black. "Get cleaned up immediately. You've both got lessons to attend to today." She snapped, flouncing out of the room with her dress robes billowing behind her.

Regulus grumbled but did as he was told, and Harry let out a breath of relief. The boy lay on the floor for a few minutes, trying to regain himself. He wasn't too sure how this was going to pan out if things kept going on as they were now.

The day passed by slowly. Harry had known everything that the tutors were trying to teach him, and he positively blew them out of the water with his correct-on-the-first-try answers. Of course the tutors had naturally assumed this had nothing to do with the boy's mind, only how good of a teacher they were. It served well to boost their egos, and one even had the audacity to ask Mr. Black for a raise since he was obviously doing so well at his job. Mr. Black refused but soon found himself obliging when the tutor threatened to quit his post if his demands were not met.

Harry was oblivious to this as he was already in the back yard by the time the conversation had passed. He was busying himself tending to the garden, pulling some weeds when Mrs. Black came out and shrieked. "You're getting dirt and grime all over your clothes! We just bought those for you, you ungrateful little cretin. Get up, get up! Go and change that right this second, and don't you dare track dirt into the house!" She pointer a stern finger towards the house and stomped her foot for added effect. Harry could see that this was going to take a very long time to get used to this family.

* * *

As time passed, the boy thought almost daily about his inevitable first meeting with his own father and Remus. He had no amount of fondness when he recalled Peter Pettigrew, however he'd made the decision early on that he would try to change things this time around, that he would try to save some people and break some bonds before they had a chance to be made.

He had no idea whether or not this would work, as all he had to go on were two theories that he'd worked out; one, he would change everything and life would be better, or two, he would change nothing as it had already happened and was supposed to happen. He didn't know which would occur, or even if a third option was present, but he did know that he needed to become powerful if he were to sustain Azkaban in the future.

He spent most of his days, 6 a week with only one day for rest, on expanding his magical core and working with wandless magic. Regulus posed a constant threat, but within a few years he'd gotten to the point that he could easily best his brother, even without a wand. He also noticed that he was looking different, a side effect of the bonding ceremony. As he grew taller and older, his hair grew at a rate he'd never known it to before. Luckily for him, long hair was perfectly acceptable on boys in the wizarding world, so his family never really urged him to cut it off.

The day finally came where he got his Hogwarts acceptance letter. His parents had finally showed him some form of pride, as they thought with his lazy attitude with the tutors he surely would never get into a school as prestigious as this one. It was with great pride for the Black family name that his mother took him shopping for his supplies.

Sirius, as he'd gotten used to being called, was excited. He got to go through the process of getting a new wand. Perhaps it would be the same one, or perhaps even it would be something completely new! He and Walburga walked into Ollivander's with a mission.

The man measured him every which way he possibly could, scrutinized him from head to toe, and chatted him up to see the kind of person Sirius was. Overall Ollivander was pleased with the latest product of the Black Family, and he stated just that as he handed a wand to the boy. The very first wand was a complete match for him; walnut wood, 11 ½ inches, hard, and a phoenix tail feather. It was brilliantly carved, swirls all over the handle, and Sirius marveled at how much more aesthetically pleasing it was than the one in his past – or future as it were.

Walburga had wanted to get him Slytherin colors in everything for his school wardrobe; however Sirius was having none of that. He simply stated that he wanted to be prepared for anything, so they attained shirts with very light shades of the four basic house colors; green, blue, yellow, and Merlin forbid, red. His mother balked at the very thought of one of the Blacks going to Gryffindor house. It would probably be the biggest let-down of the family's since the Weasley's branched off and became blood traitors.

By the time Sirius had boarded the train he was dreading going through the sorting. The hat would know that he'd been sorted before, it could see into every nook and cranny of the mind. Would it refuse to sort him? Would it resort him into Gryffindor? He had no idea.

Suddenly the compartment door slid open and a boy came running in, sliding the door closed behind him and panting as he looked around wildly. "Hi!" He stated with a grin, extending his hand. "James Potter."

Sirius blinked and took the other boy's hand. "Ha- er… Sirius Black." He said then looked down to his feet. What a stupid fumble, he should have known better. He'd been saying his name for years now. "So… James." He smiled and looked up to the boy he knew to be his father. "What are you running from?"

"That would be Remus. He's looking for me right now." James leaned in and whispered. "Hide and s-"

The door burst open and a grinning Remus appeared in the arch. "FOUND YOU!" He exclaimed, closing the door behind him and sitting down beside James. "See, I told you I could find you anywhere." He looked back to the stranger in the compartment and stuck out his hand. "Hello, I'm Remus."

"Sirius, Black." The boy stated, shaking his hand as well. He smiled and looked off to the window, not noticing the concerned looks that he was getting from the two.

"Black?" Remus asked, confused. "Why's he-"

"I know, right? I don't know though, I didn't ask." James answered, glancing between the two. "Kind of amazing though."

"You're telling me." Remus said with a small laugh.

Sirius looked back to the two of them and tilted his head. "What?"

"Oh, well it's just the Blacks don't generally tend to talk to anyone that's not 'up to par'." Remus explained, twisting his foot on the ground some.

"Plus, all of the Blacks are Slytherin. I kind of know I'm going to be a Gryffindor, I mean my whole family was. Remus doesn't know his yet. Slytherins don't really talk to Gryffindors and all." James provided.

"Oh, well… I'm not sure what I'm going to be." Sirius stated before shrugging it off. He glanced around as the train came to a halt. "It looks like we're ready for the boat ride."

The chattering amongst the students was near deafening as they boarded the boats. The ride there wasn't any better, but when Hogwarts came into view, everything went silent. Sirius raised an eyebrow as he watched the awe-filled faces of all the first years. He couldn't believe how impressed they all were, it was just Hogwarts. He glanced back to the school and fond memories came flooding back to him.

Soon everyone was gathered on the front steps, being lectured by Professor McGonagall on what they were and were not allowed to have and do. Everything was a blur and before he knew it, Sirius was standing in the Great Hall. He was called on soon as they were going alphabetically by last name, and with much anxiety he took the stool.

The hat hmm'd and thought as it sat on Sirius' head. "Ahhh yes… I see, how interesting… and you did that all by yourself… brilliant… Oh but aren't you just the sneaky snake, Slytherin would certainly benefit from having you." Its voice rang inside of Sirius' head. "After all, _Harry Potter_, you have the cunning."

Sirius closed his eyes and thought as loudly as he could. "Just please get this over with…" He requested. This would be it; this would be the turning point. Would the hat put him in Slytherin just as it had wanted to, just as his family wanted, and just as everyone suspected? Would it change the course of history?

The hat chuckled to itself. "The past cannot be changed no matter how hard one tried. My, my, little time traveler… you have much to learn. Not everything is as it seems." Its voice called. Soon the hat looked out to the crowd and bellowed. "GRYFFINDOR!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

James and Remus shared looks of excitement. This boy from the Black family was a Gryffindor! Sirius made his way to the Gryffindor tables and sat near the end, staying away from most people. He was getting odd looks, as though many thought that he didn't belong there. When he glanced to the Slytherin table he could see his brother hastily writing out a note. He swallowed thickly; Regulus must have been informing their mother…

Sirius shook his head. She wasn't his mother, his mother was Lily Evans. His eyes widened and he scanned the crowd for her. He didn't have to look far as her name was called soon after. He smiled and watched her take the stool. At one point he would have sworn that the sorting hat stared at him. Soon she was sorted into Gryffindor, as was Remus and James. The boys each made their way beside Sirius and started chatting up a storm.

"I knew I was gonna get Gryffindor, I told you. I also told you that you would too." James said to Remus with a wry grin.

Remus nodded. "Yeah but…" He looked to Sirius. "How in the world did you get Gryffindor?"

Sirius cleared his throat and shrugged. "I guess the hat must have seen something in me, something like me not really being like the rest of the Blacks." He couldn't help the faint smile that formed on his face.

James nudged him in the arm with his elbow. "Hey, if you want you can sleep by us in the boy's dorm." He offered with a grin.

Harry frowned a moment. "Aren't the beds assigned?"

"Nope, never have been." Remus told him.

Sirius smiled and nodded his head. "Of course, yeah." He and Remus began talking about what they were planning on doing for the bigger holidays. It was then that Sirius remembered he was going to have to go back home for the Christmas holidays. He snickered and decided against that. "I'm staying at Hogwarts." He told Remus. Oh yes, he was going to live life the way he wanted for once.

Remus blinked in confusion. "You can do that?"

"Yeah… at least I think you can." Sirius frowned and looked up to the High Table. Dumbledore was gone, the sorting must have ended. He stood and moved his head in the direction of the Grand Staircase. "Come on, let's go ask Dumbledore."

Remus' eyes had widened. Go to the headmaster about something like this? Wouldn't the headmaster be irritated that they weren't taking it up with a professor first? He ran after Sirius, every step of the way thinking that this was a bad idea. The headmaster would probably give them detention for disturbing him with something as trivial as this.

When he finally caught up to Sirius he was too out of breath to say anything and bent down, just breathing in the Headmaster's office.

Sirius cleared his throat and shook his head before saying something. "Are we allowed to stay at Hogwarts through the holidays?"

Albus frowned and shook his head. "No, my boy, why would anyone choose to stay at a musty old school when they could be celebrating with their families?" He asked, gesturing for the boys to sit down in the seats.

Sirius looked back to Remus then to Albus. He decided to try and code what he was going to say. "Well, I know a boy who goes here, or he did, and he hated his house. This was about 7 or 8 years ago." He gave a stern look to the Headmaster hoping he understood. He received an incredibly subtle nod. Remus simply listened and watched, unsure as to what was really happening here. "Anyway, he hated going home because his family treated him like garbage. Hogwarts was the only place that he felt comfortable, and the thought of sending him home over the holidays devastated him. For some other children, one wanted to stay to ensure she was well-versed and caught up on everything the course had to offer, one stayed because he knew his mother didn't need another mouth to feed over the holidays, and the reasons go on."

Albus hmm'd for a moment and nodded his head. "And when do you think we should implement something like that, Mr. Black?" He asked curiously.

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know, I only know that it was over 20 years ago."

Remus was completely and utterly lost now. Had they veered off on another subject? Had they shared a secret code? Had he misheard?

Albus pondered this for a moment and nodded. "It sounds like a fine idea, my boy! We shall implement this rule this very year. I will send out notices to the families that their child staying here is an option." He offered Sirius a sour candy and put it back when he declined. He then looked to Remus. "Now that I have you here, I need to speak with you about something personal. If you like Mr. Black can leave or stay."

Remus looked to Sirius then back to Albus. "S-stay please." He asked, hoping the man wasn't going to chew him out for not having any ideas.

Albus nodded and cleared his throat. "Now as you know the full moon is arriving and-"

"Leave!" Remus yelped, looking back to Sirius. "Please leave… I don't want you to hate me…"

Sirius looked utterly beyond confused. "Why would- oh is this about being a werewolf? Nah, I already know, it's alright."

Remus choked a moment and looked as though he might consider jumping from a window soon. His hands shook and he looked Sirius in the eyes. "H-how do you kn-know?"

Sirius internally panicked but didn't really show it on the outside then he remembered something. "Your eyes give it away, those amber flecks. All werewolves have amber flecks in their eyes."

Remus looked somewhat relieved but still worried. Sirius didn't seem to mind so he continued on with the Headmaster. "Yes, Sir?"

"The full moon is arriving soon and you will need a safe place to make the transformation." Albus started. "Unfortunately, we have no safe place, none that is truly safe. You may have to make do with the Forbidden Forest during these nights."

Remus went to reply but just shook his head. He was too frightened to mingle with what lurked out there. Sirius cleared his throat and raised his fingers a bit. "Ehm, if I may… what if we, oh I don't know, used the shrieking shack?" He asked with a bit of a smile on his face. "It sits just outside of Hogsmeade, there's a secret path to it that I know where to find, and if we just magic the doors and windows locked, wolfy is stuck inside for the night. As long as someone is there to let him out in the morning or go in if something happens, everything should be fine."

Albus considered this. It was a very nice setup the boy had, and surely it would be safer. The house was abandoned, it could work. He clasped his hands together and nodded. "Yes, I do believe that would work wonderfully Mr. Black. Eh, mind me asking but, how did you know about this secret passageway?"

Sirius grinned and leaned forward. "You'll be hard pressed if you think I'm giving away all of my secrets, Albus." He said with such familiarity.

Dumbledore was slightly put off by this but he quickly realized two things. One, the boy was actually around 21 now, and two, he had a lot more to learn about the real young man inside. He chuckled and shook his head. "My boy you are truly a wealth of ideas." His eyes twinkled when he saw the sudden potential. "You shall have to drop by some time and give me some advice on a few situations I seem to have found myself in."

Sirius nodded and soon he and Remus were out of the office. Remus was having trouble comprehending what had just happened. An adult, full-fledged, beard and all, had just had a conversation with his friend, his 11 year old friend, as though they were both adults and had known one another for a long time. He stopped walking and soon his hands were at his head in a gesture of the confusion he felt. "What?!"

* * *

As the year grew colder and autumn fell into winter, Sirius became more and more anxious. Albus hadn't been allowing him to stay with Remus on those nights; no instead a teacher was assigned to that duty. Sirius thought this to be most unfair, however Albus assured him that this was only so no suspicions would arise about him. Sirius wanted to ask Remus about what went on during those nights, but every time he brought it up Remus didn't want to talk about it.

Sirius found something else of great interest. James and Lily had finally started to notice one another. Unfortunately, Snape had started noticing Lily as well. He decided that now was not the time to interfere with that. He had bigger problems on his hands judging by the boy that looked slightly like a rat walking towards them…. Peter Pettigrew.

Sirius stepped in front of James and Remus, looking to Peter with much scrutiny. "Why have you been following us?"

James frowned. "He's been following us?"

Remus nodded. "For about three weeks now." He said mindlessly, not realizing that this would raise some suspicion in James as to how he could have known this.

Sirius blinked for a moment. "I've only noticed it these last few days."

"Oh…" Remus said, his eyes searching frantically. "I guess I just notice things better…"

Sirius cleared his throat once more and took his attention back to Peter. "Well?"

Peter stepped back some and started to say something before he found himself incapable of it. He ran off the opposite way and hid in the bathroom, hyperventilating some. He was a very awkward child and felt that nobody could really understand the anxiety he faced when trying to make new friends.

Sirius backed down again and looked over to Remus. "Really? Three whole weeks?" He received a nod and shook his own head. "That's crazy." Ah well, perhaps the hat was wrong and he really could change the past. Maybe, just maybe he'd kept Peter from wanting to be their friend, and perhaps his parents wouldn't die. The possibilities brimmed and he walked on with the biggest smile on his face.

It was a few days later into the beginnings of the winter holidays when Sirius stared in awe at the sheer amount of people who had stayed at the school over the break. It was only the four of them, him, James, Remus, and Peter Pettigrew.

Sirius didn't like the feeling he got. It seemed like James had been seriously considering a friendship with Peter. He'd wanted to stop this, but for some reason James seemed drawn to the other boy as if it were some odd kind of fate. Sirius growled to himself during lunch some 2 days later when he saw Peter coming over to sit with them. The boy looked at his plate and cleared his throat. "Hello, I'm Peter Pettigrew, and I know this sounds stupid but would you be my friends?" He asked, not daring to look up at them.

Sirius felt something shift inside of him. The boy wasn't bad, he was just looking for acceptance… perhaps if he could convince the others to truly accept Peter as a part of the group, he wouldn't wind up with the Death Eaters… perhaps he could help someone and change history at the same time. He stuck out a hand and was the first to welcome Peter after the long silence. "I'm Sirius Black." He said, shaking the boy's hand.

James raised an eyebrow then looked to Peter and shrugged. He hadn't really been considering a friendship with the boy, only considering using him to do the grunt work in a couple of schemes he'd been cooking up. He gave a nod and a pat on the shoulder to the boy. "James Potter."

Remus looked over to him then back to Sirius and finally at his plate again. "Remus Lupin." He said lowly, wondering if he would have to fight for attention from the others.

Peter gave a small smile and felt as though his chest might explode any moment from his heart beating so hard. It was like a drum in there. He'd never felt like he wanted to puke this badly in his life.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

As Peter became more accustomed to the group, and they to him, they started truly getting along well together. Of course, it was James that came up with some of the most arduous tasks to undertake, but Sirius seemed to think of ways to include him in everything. Overall, Peter considered himself better friends with Sirius than the rest.

Remus knew that he was better friends with Sirius, and unfortunately for the others, James had started to feel the same way. Sirius couldn't really understand why it was like this, but everyone seemed to want a piece of him, and not for being famous! It was a new experience and one that Sirius was glad to have. For once, he was one of the popular kids, and it wasn't because of some boy-who-lived nonsense.

Their second year passed with them becoming more outlandish in the schemes and plots they formed. Sirius started taking a lead role in coming up with some of the more off-the-wall type things. When it became apparent that James had taken notice of Remus' monthly absences, Remus had decided that maybe it was time to tell him as well. He should probably tell Peter too.

Remus gathered the three one day after class and took them outside to the lake. He fumbled around a bit but finally managed to get out what he needed to. "I'm not… I mean I… I'm a… Well, to put it one way I…. ugh." He sighed and rubbed at his head. "I'm a werewolf." He stated, biting onto his lip as soon as the word left his mouth.

Sirius smiled and went over to Remus, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad you finally told them." He said, looking back to the others. Yes, he'd formed a real friendship with Peter, having taken him under his wing so as to raise him better, or that was what he'd told himself.

James was stunned. He stood there with his mouth open, his arms limp, and his mind blown. Peter had taken a few steps back and looked as though he might run any second. It took him nearly half a minute but he returned to the standing position he'd been in before and reached out a hand to Remus. "Will you try to hurt us? On purpose?" He asked, pulling his hand back and being completely unsure about the whole situation.

Remus' face betrayed his sadness. "No, never on purpose. I mean, the- the wolf can kill somebody, and it… it has before, but I, I don't know, I remember it later but I never-" He stopped and took a deep breath as he mentally relived two different kills that his inner wolf had taken.

Sirius wrapped his arms around him and tried to give him the tightest hug he could. "It's gonna be okay, like you said, you weren't you at the time." He tried.

A passing boy got a good look at them and that was all they needed to turn tale by morning that Sirius and Remus had a thing for each other. Of course Sirius denied it all completely and set in on dating and flirting with as many girls as he could to prove everyone otherwise. He took to ignoring Remus some.

Luckily for Remus, at this time James and Peter was there for him, being a friend through and through. They looked to Sirius with exasperation but chalked it up to another of the boy's odd ways.

Sirius was lost in his own little world. He wasn't sure what he was doing anymore. He was, for all intents and purposes, having a breakdown at this point in his life. He didn't know what he was supposed to do until his parents had him, or what he could do if he didn't stop Peter and got sent to Azkaban, hell he hadn't even been able to shift into his animagus yet.

He remembered something. The boys learned their animagi so they could help Remus and be with him during the full moon after they'd found out about his being a werewolf. That was it! That was how he would practice, by doing it out in the open with them.

That evening he pulled them into a hidden hallway and told them his idea about the animagus training. His heart raced and he couldn't help but feel somewhat terrified and thrilled at the thought of running alongside a werewolf as a dog.

James thought the idea was wonderful, and Peter thought it brilliant. Remus, on the other hand, thought it completely mad. "No! No way! What if I hurt you, I couldn't live with myself if I did that, I would kill myself!" He stated, consumed with terror at the thought.

Sirius groaned. "You won't hurt us, I promise, I know."

Remus shook his head no. "You can't know, you haven't seen the future. You can't even pass Divinations, how do you expect me to think you can know something like that? There is always the possibil-"

James interrupted him and put his hand on Remus' shoulder. "Yes, there is always the possibility to hurt us. There's the possibility every time you hold your wand and think a thought. It's there when we go out in the middle of the night into the forest. It's there when we start experimenting with new things to try and make the best pranks we can, or to try to make something grand. It's there every waking moment of our lives thanks to the unpredictability of humans, and we face it every day together, as friends, we can face this together as well. We will not leave you alone to deal with this."

Peter even took his turn to nod and smile some. "You're never alone when you have us."

Sirius looked back to Remus and gave his own smile and nod. "There you have it. Basically put, we love you like a brother, you're not going to scare us off that easily."

That was the first time since he was 6 that Remus allowed himself to cry in front of other people.

* * *

It took them several months of practice, but finally the first of them managed to shift into their animagus. It was Sirius and he shifted into a dog, flopping over when it was done from exhaustion. At least he finally understood what Minerva had meant about having to be mature enough; you had to focus all of your energy and enter a quick form of meditation. The practicing had been to try and get to that point within seconds, which not everybody was able to do. Luckily for them, Sirius had just proven that possible.

Sirius snuffled the leaves and sneezed, then looked to James, Remus, and Peter. Remus grinned and stuck out a hand, petting Sirius. At first Sirius was confused at how to take this but ultimately his inner dog won out and he nuzzled into the hand, enjoying the attention.

James pet the dog as well and laughed when a paw came up to his arm, bopping it several times. He hmm'd for a moment. "What should we call you?" He wondered aloud. "You know the in code name." The dog bopped him with his paw again. "Paw bopper?" Sirius snuffed and gave a deadpan look towards him.

He bopped the pad of his paw again Remus' arm, hoping he would be smarter. Remus hmm'd and thought. "Paw? Toe? Claw? Fur? Pad?" Sirius barked loudly and wagged his tail then snuffed at Remus' shoe. "Hey that's my foot!" Remus stated, wiggling it away. Sirius barked again, wagging his tail more. "Footpad? Padfoot?" Sirius barked and jumped around in circled, happy that at least one of their group had the intellect that Remus was blessed with. Padfoot flopped down in Remus' lap and lay down, staring at James and waiting with a wagging tail for him to be able to accomplish the transformation.

James nodded some. "I think we should come up with our names too." He stated, settling back in. "Let's keep them related though, to the animal."

"Can mine be Moony?" Remus asked, looking towards the others. Padfoot barked softly and wagged his tail.

James thought about it and nodded. "I like it." He concentrated on trying to shift again with all of his might. Remus simply watched, having said that he'd had more than enough of his share of transforming into an animal, he didn't want an animagus even if he had one. What he hadn't told him was that as a side effect of being a werewolf, his animagus was a wolf and it was that he didn't want any part of.

Peter stunned everybody including himself when he was the next to transform and he turned into a small brown rat. James laughed a moment until he saw the potential. He stooped down to Peter and looked at him. "You can use your rat self to spy on people. We can get answers to tests!" He whispered. The rat moved so its paws were on James' nose and snuffed at it, trying to convey a yes the best way he knew how.

James shook his head and laughed, returning to trying to transform. Unfortunately, he didn't transform for a good 5 hours. It was already 1 am when he finally made it. His body shifted and morphed into one of the most awe inspiring things one could see; a majestic stag with a magical aura. Well, the magic wasn't seeable, but it sure seemed that way.

The group of animals walked around Remus, the rat on his shoulder because he couldn't walk fast enough. It was a strange sight to see, a boy with a rat, a stag, and a dog, walking through the forbidden forest… it sounded like the setup to a bad joke. Remus shook his head and walked on, taking his friends through to a clearing that he'd heard some older kids talking about. He marveled at the sight; a small waterfall splashed into a medium sized pond that easily could hold all four of them and their animagi as well, the grass was lush and it amazingly seemed bug free. A few small brilliantly colored fish swam around under the crystal clear water of the shallow end and a small furry rabbit could be seen drinking from the water, sending tiny ripples cascading down its surface.

Remus seemed to feel completely at ease and bent to his knees, sitting on the ground and looking in awe. Suddenly the rabbit's spine grew horns and its teeth grew sharp, piercing red eyes seeming to stare into his soul before it returned to its more docile look then hopped away. Remus was certainly startled and confused at this turn of events before he remembered that he was in the forbidden forest. Nothing here was really as it seemed, or at least that's what he'd heard Dumbledore saying one time.

Aside from the occasional animal spazzing out and staring at them for a few seconds, everything in the forest was fairly calm. None of them realized that Sirius, before he'd went out, had cast a spell over them to protect them from the wilderness of the forest. He was in his 20's on the inside after all, he did have a medium of common sense and he'd had two childhoods to learn more than he'd ever known before. Of course he would take it.

The calmness was suddenly shattered when several birds squawked and flew away, animals ran, and twigs snapped from behind them. They cringed as a deep male voice surrounded them, flooding their ears. "Hmm, what do we have here?" The voice called, urging them to turn their heads. "Why, if it isn't the little werewolf that Fenrir never could finish off." He slid from the shadows exposing his pale skin and his red eyes. "Surrounded by your little wood creatures and a rat, really; I suppose I'll simply have to finish you off where that useless werewolf failed." He sneered, raising a wand as the dog ran away. He grinned and his posture switched, more full of the feeling that he would enjoy killing this boy.


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: **_Yes I realize that the boys didn't do the animagi transformations until 5th year, this is an AU after all, some things will be different, some things won't. It will all make sense in the end.

**Chapter 5**

Voldemort wasn't able to land his blow though, as soon Sirius had him petrified. He held off on calling out the signal for his minions to free him in exchange for getting some information. "Ahh, Mr. Black, how kind of you to finally acknowledge me. I have a proposition for you, my boy. Your brother has already joined among my ranks and now I think it's time for you to join with him and I. Think about it, Sirius, you could have anything you wanted. Power, fame, sex, you could have everything."

Sirius sneered and crossed his arms. "Really? That's the best you can do? Look, _Voldie_, you had best shove off. Me or my friends don't want anything to do with you!" He stated.

Voldemort frowned. "How unfortunate… for you, that is. Well, Mr. Black, until we meet again… arrivederci." Within a flash smoke had surrounded them and Voldemort was freed.

Sirius looked around, having lost Peter and James. He called out for them both and a few seconds later James answered with a call of his own. They didn't find Peter, though. They'd assumed that he'd already ran back to the castle.

James cursed as he shifted back to a human. "Damn it! I was too… I don't know, stunned, scared? I didn't do a damn thing." He grumbled, walking off towards the castle.

Remus ran over to him. "It was frightening, it's okay. I didn't do anything either."

"No, but Sirius did, he always does. Whenever anything happens he's the first to go after it and see what's happening. I swear sometimes I think he's stupidly brave, he makes me feel like I don't even amount to anything." James ranted, flustered with the whole situation.

''He's always the one doing stuff, getting into trouble, and jumping headfirst into things. I worry sometimes but it doesn't make me feel bad. It has nothing to do with bravery; I just think he's more used to things like that than we are. He is a Black after all." Remus tried, hoping that James would stop thinking things like that. "More importantly, he's not doing it to hurt you."

Sirius had heard them, naturally, he wasn't that far behind them. He frowned. Is that how they really saw him, the one who lets his brain go to waste and just does stupid stuff? He wasn't like that at all, not really. He bit his lip and looked to the other two. Well, he knew something about Remus, perhaps it was time to let Remus know something about him…

Sirius tapped Remus on the shoulder and cupped a hand around his ear, whispering something. "Meet me tonight at the Astronomy tower, 1 am… I have something I need to tell you."

Remus nodded and wondered just what it could be. Perhaps Sirius liked him – oh Merlin but what if he did? Well, Remus certainly didn't think him bad looking, and although he was a pretty immature guy sometimes, he was always the first to stand up for him. He wondered the rest of the day about how their meeting would go down.

At one point Remus had images of the two meeting and sharing a passionate kiss. He decided that no, that wasn't realistic, and quite frankly Remus wasn't even completely sure that was what he wanted. Another thought later struck him that what if he brought up the subject and it turned out Sirius had no intention of anything like that, he would be mortified. Still another bout had him imagining him ascending the tower and Sirius throwing him off of the top to get rid of him for some reason. Remus simply laughed that one off, how preposterous, his mind really was getting away from him. Maybe he just wanted to plan a surprise for someone and needed Remus' help.

Nothing he'd thought of was even remotely close to what Sirius had planned. When Remus ascended the tower he was greeted with a bitter cold wind. Sirius was sitting off by a window, staring out of it and looking rather dour and serious. When he turned his head, Sirius smiled a greeting to Remus. "I'm glad you decided to come." He said, shifting so that he was facing the boy. "I… haven't been entirely honest with you, or anyone really except for Dumbledore. See, I'm not… I mean I am… oh this would be easier if I had a firewhisky." He rubbed at his temples and tried again. "Okay, we've known one another for what, a year and a half now? I'd say we know each other pretty well actually. I'm not who I appear to be."

Remus cocked his head to the side and sat down against a wall. "So you're not Sirius Black?"

Sirius shook his head. "No, I am Sirius Black, but that's not my real name. Sirius was the name that the Blacks gave me when they adopted me, but nobody else can find out I'm adopted, or anything else that I tell you tonight, okay?" He urged, scooting off of the windowsill to the floor. "Please? Only Dumbledore and you know, that's it." Remus nodded and Sirius took in a deep breath. "You're probably not even going to believe me, but here goes… my name is Harry Potter, I am James Potter and Lily Evans' son from the future. In my time we have these things called time turners that let us go back in time. I came back here to meet my parents and see what kind of people they were, but then I got stuck and had to take an alias. I thought I was going to be living with Sirius but it turns out… I am him. I don't know where this leaves me in the future, I mean… I saw myself die, but I don't… I can't… Remus, I'm scared."

Remus was a bit shocked at what he was hearing himself. From the future? One of his best friend's sons? This was all so completely outrageous sounding, he was having a hard time believing it, just as Sirius had predicted.

Sirius closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "We couldn't find Peter today, and I think that this is his turning point… I think that he went with Voldemort in the woods instead of running off in cowardice like I'd hoped. In the future, Peter does something absolutely horrible and I want to try to keep it from happening, but I don't think I've managed to keep anything from happening." His eyes started to well and he opened them, looking to Remus. "I'm beginning to think that the only choice I have in this is to watch everything happen from another viewpoint… Heh. You know, when James has me, he appoints me, or Sirius rather, as my godfather… I'm my own godfather." He laughed and wiped at his eyes, wrapping his arms around his knees and resting his forehead against them. "Suppose it's better than being my own father… that would be a mess." He sniffed and looked back to Remus to see that he wasn't truly getting through to him. "Right… you don't believe me."

"It's not that- well, I mean it is that I just… how can I be sure you aren't lying or drunk or something?" Remus asked, scooting a bit closer to Sirius.

Sirius looked at Remus and scoured his mind for any kind of information that Remus would have told him to alert himself in the past. That's when he remembered it. "Your boggart, it's a full moon because of your lycanthropy." He tried, hoping that it was enough.

Remus nodded but still kept his skepticism. "Yes, but something like that's kind of obvious… kind of. Anything else?"

"You eat a lot of chocolate? No that's easily able to tell too… I know!" His hope filled his face and he looked to Remus with certainty. "You told me once that if I ever got into trouble all I needed to do was send a patronus. You told me that the first time you cast your patronus that you were trying to get away from Fenrir. The patronus wouldn't come out and he bit you, then it came out but it was already too late because you passed out a few seconds later. That was your emphasis on why it's good to have such a strong patronus." He sighed and looked to Remus' face.

Remus considered this. He hadn't told that story to many people, only three, and two of them were family. The other was James and he knew James well enough to know that he wouldn't have told that story to Sirius. He gave a nod, short, but it got the point across. "Okay… I'll accept that there is a possibility that you're telling the truth, but you've got to earn the rest. Not prove it, just don't give me a reason to doubt you… unless you're willing to talk about it with Dumbledore and I in the same room? I know he wouldn't lie."

Sirius looked affronted. "So you _know _that I would lie about something like this?" He asked, frowning more than he'd intended.

"No that- you know what I mean." Remus stated, scooting a bit closer. "I want to believe you."

Sirius nodded and stood up, reaching out a hand to pull Remus up. "Then we'll go and see him, now." He stated as Remus reached eye level.

Remus shook his head. "No, not now, it's the middle of the night. We'll go tomorrow after we've got some rest." He said, finally noticing how uncomfortably close he was in proximity to Sirius. They were both kind of invading one another's personal space there, shivering in the wind on the astronomy tower.

Sirius sighed and nodded. "Fine, tomorrow… I've also got an idea for the group tomorrow, we need to meet at about 6 pm to discuss it. We'll meet in Divinations, I know a room that you guys would love to have." He said with a grin.

Remus nodded and cleared his throat, glancing down. They were a bit too close to one another and if someone didn't move soon, he wouldn't know how to control himself and keep from doing something stupid and embarrassing like kissing Sirius. He gave a weak smile then pushed past and made his way from the room.

Sirius frowned again at the display. Had he done something wrong? Nah, Remus was probably just going off to think about everything. He hoped that Remus' prized mind would work out that he was telling the truth about all of this. He sighed and made his way from the tower to the halls, wandering around and not really having anywhere to be right this second. It was odd to him, not being needed every minute by Hermione or the Order or one of the Weasleys… it was nice, but he did miss his friends.

He hadn't been thinking about it much the past few years, he'd mainly been focusing on how to change or better those in Sirius' life. When he stopped to really think about it, he realized that it felt like a hole was inside of him, growing bigger the longer he was away from Hermione and Ron.

Remus sighed as he went back to the common room and slid down the wall, thunking his head against it. Surely if Sirius hadn't noticed by now, he had a huge crush on him. He couldn't imagine Sirius not be able to pick up the signs. He stood and ascended the staircase to meet Peter Pettigrew walking up as well. "Hey, where did you disappear off to earlier?" He asked.

Peter shook his head and walked faster. "I don't wanna talk about it…" He said, moving to the outer side of the stairs. "You'll find out later." He promised.

Sirius finally decided to make his way up to the common room when he ran into Snape in the Grand Staircase, knocking his books out of the boy's hands. He thought for a moment – should he snicker and leave the boy as he wanted to, or should he help? He decided to help and bent down to pick up some of the books. "Sorry, Snape." He muttered, grabbing a loose paper. He glanced at the title. "Wolfsbane?" He asked, looking over the potion. It wasn't right, there were some things missing. Was this one of Snape's inventions? His eyes widened in realization. Snape hadn't invented the potion yet so Remus was still suffering through the full moons. He shoved the paper into a confused Snape's hands and dug around in his bottomless pouch, pulling out some 15 galleons and shoving them into Snape's hands as well. "I will pay you, that 15 to complete the wolfsbane potion and then 5 galleons a month for a wolfsbane every month thereafter. I'm a Black, I can afford it, and I'll set up a vault at Gringotts to pay for it for the next 40 years." He tried hopefully.

Snape pushed the money back and scowled. "There's no way this potion can even be made, nothing's worked. And I don't want your money, _Gryffindor._" He snarled.

Sirius watched as Snape walked away, his main hope to help Remus ease the pain of his transformations… He sighed and stood, pocketing the money and heading on his way. It was only a few moments later that he heard a chillingly familiar sound. "Kill… rip… tear…. Come to me."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Sirius shivered at the voice… the basilisk. At least he knew enough now not to go on allowing people to know that he had parseltongue abilities. He ignored the sound as much as he possibly could, heading on his way. That's all it would take, just ignore it and it will go away.

He spent most of his night trying to drown out the voice, get it to go away. The damn thing kept on hissing though, speaking of devouring people, as though it new someone were listening. He didn't think it fair that he had to deal with this again, especially after he'd already killed the thing once, and here it was, once again second year, and he was hearing a snake in the pipes.

The next day Remus and Sirius did go and speak with Dumbledore. The old man merely confirmed what Sirius had said which Remus found a great relief. He couldn't express how happy he was that he could actually believe Sirius. This was what had been holding him back from making any kind of move, this was the big obstacle in his life right now. Sirius was some time-travelling child of his best friend… it was weird, there was no doubt about that, and yes Remus had some trepidation about asking his best friend's child to the valentine's dance that was going to be coming up, but Remus couldn't seem to help himself. He just found himself enamored with Sirius Black. Every time Sirius would get all flirty with someone else, it felt like he was purposefully ripping Remus' emotions to shreds. He knew it wasn't the case, somewhere deep down he knew that Sirius didn't even really realize what was going on.

He couldn't have been more wrong in his life. Sirius knew exactly what was going on, he just wasn't sure how he felt about it. On the one hand, he was going to be Sirius Black until he died… which was at the Ministry during his first 5th year at Hogwarts. He had known Remus since he was younger, for a solid 10 years now, but he'd also known the older Remus longer, and this younger Remus for only a year and a half. He wasn't too sure what he was supposed to be feeling. Yes, he'd had a bit of a crush on the adult Remus, and yes it had sent him into a spiraling fit of denying any kind of non-heterosexual attachment to anyone. As he went through the years he'd come to realize that he could like whoever he liked and that was the problem.

He found himself liking Remus, the young Remus, but he just couldn't… he couldn't wrap his head around it. Technically, going by their bodies, they were both 12, and Remus probably only really had ideas of holding hands, or kissing at most. Sirius knew the truth though, he'd already thought about the many things he could do with Remus in a few more years. Sirius was, mentally at least, a 22 year old adult male. His acting up before was when he hadn't caught on that Remus felt something for him, when he thought Remus would be uncomfortable from accusations. He'd made up his mind though, he would wait. He'd been doing nothing but waiting the last 7 years, he could wait some more. He did, after all, have somewhat of a life ahead of him. He could spend his time learning and training.

He didn't know how he was going to do it, but all he knew was that he needed to find a way to try to set into effect something that would defeat Voldemort before he died. He'd already realized, what with so many things happening just as they'd happened in the stories that he wasn't doing well to change a thing. What he didn't realize, though, is that he was changing things. Certain things, small things had happened differently. Nothing that had affected the large points in time had changed; nothing that had affected Peter. As the days and weeks passed he noted that Peter was becoming more withdrawn.

He was glad to see James and Lily getting along. They'd had one major fight but had quickly made up afterwards, and it was mainly about the way he'd been treating Snape. He backed off and started hanging around Remus and Sirius more, spending most of his time talking about Lily and what they were planning on doing together.

Peter had earned the nickname Wormtail thanks to his rat tail looking like a worm, and Remus had dubbed James as Prongs thanks to his antlers. Sirius had shown them an area just past the study room outside of the Gryffindor Library, a secret path that he'd remembered off of the map. It was only 2 weeks after that when he suggested to the others that they make this map. Unfortunately for him, he had no idea just the sheer amount of work something like that took. It had to be charged with pure, raw magic for at least 12 hours every day, meaning they had to send the map back and forth between them during shifts before they fell asleep. Every time one had a free period they would spend that period charging the map with every ounce of magic that they could spare, something that had taken them at least 3 weeks to master. Finally when the map had been sufficiently charged to last throughout several lifetimes, Sirius took hold of it and, with Remus, began charting the school. He took note of every room, drew it to scale to the best of his ability, and showed the werewolf through many of the secret passages.

When all was said and done and he looked over the map he was disappointed. He was missing a good ⅓rd of the map. He knew he would have to go actually searching for the rest of the rooms instead of relying on memory.

Remus was amazed that the map could even do what it did. When he asked Sirius what kind of charm he'd used, Sirius only tapped his own nose twice. "I won't give away everything I know." He said with a wry grin before looking up to Remus. "However, if you want to find out, then I'll tell you when the time is right."

Remus huffed some. It was hard for him to look at this boy as though he were a grown man trapped in a boy's body. He knew that Dumbledore wouldn't lie over something like this, but he just couldn't seem to truly grasp the situation well. On top of all of this, he was completely unsure about his feelings for Sirius. It seemed like Sirius wasn't returning them in the least, however just when he'd least expect it, Sirius would do or say something flirty. He couldn't make up his mind on what Sirius' actions meant, so he simply gave up. If Sirius wanted him, he would come to him. Otherwise, it would be a good idea to stop essentially smothering the boy… man… person.

* * *

Sirius spent the majority of the rest of the year pretending that the basilisk's voice didn't bother him, working on filling in the areas of the map, slacking off in his classes yet still passing nearly every exam they had to offer, and generally earning the confusion of the staff. He grew closer to Remus and James; however he did exclude Peter from most of his tasks. Yes, he would put Wormtail on the stupid map, and yes he would include Wormtail in some of his storytelling with him and his friends' endeavors, however he didn't consider Peter a part of their group. He considered Peter nothing that needed his attention.

This caused strain on his and James' relationship, where James saw Peter as a true friend and couldn't understand why his other friend didn't seem to like Peter anymore. Remus never did get the courage to ask Sirius to the Valentine's day ball that year. At the beginning of their third year they had almost separated into different groups, James with Peter and Lily, and Sirius with Remus.

Remus wasn't too put off by this, it gave him more time to get to know Sirius… or Harry… or whatever it was he wanted to be called. He learned throughout the school year that Sirius was being treated like dirt by his family. He had been ever since they found out that he was sorted as a Gryffindor. Remus wanted to do something about this for him, however there wasn't much to do other than invite him over to his place for the summer, which would never happen as Remus' place wasn't really open to the Blacks. That stupid name…

After the Christmas holidays had ended and everyone was back in school, Sirius seemed to have somewhat of a personality shift. He started including Peter again, hoping that he could convince the boy to stay away from the Death Eaters and maybe save his parents. Remus and James were both glad over this, however their own friendship had taken a bit of a strain, as they both realized that they would go in separate directions if they'd been forced to choose between their friendship and those of the others. It wasn't enough to ruin their friendship, only enough to make them both realize that they needed to sort out their priorities.

Their third year was mostly inactive as far as pranks and inventions went. Lily and James seemed to be arguing a lot more this year, however Remus had quickly found the reason. Snape was spiking James' pumpkin juice with an aggression potion trying to break them up.

When Remus had told Sirius about this, the two confronted the Slytherin about it. "I swear I didn't do anything." Snape lied, feeling like a cornered rat.

"Don't bullshit us, we saw you." Sirius said, putting himself between Remus and Snape. "You've been doing something to James' drink and you need to stop."

Remus popped his head up from behind Sirius' shoulder. "Why are you doing it anyway?"

Snape snarled towards them and tried to side-walk away, however when that effort proved to be futile he huffed. "Move, Black." He said in a warning tone.

Sirius cocked his head and put a fist oh his hip. "No. How about you tell me what you've been doing to my friend, and then maybe I'll decide whether or not I'll let you get away with it." He stated with a tone that demanded to be taken seriously.

Snape had decided at that moment that he wouldn't be victim to this boy. He would damn well do what he wanted to and nobody could stop him. He swung at Sirius and tried to punch him, however his fist only hit air as Sirius ducked the shot. "Damn it!" He muttered.

Sirius couldn't believe it. He was going to knock the shit out of his potions professor! It was with a great sense of relief that he could finally pay the man back for all the turmoil he'd caused, whether he knew it or not, that Sirius' own arm flew into action with a swift uppercut. He hit Snape's jaw and sent him sprawling to the floor with a satisfied sneer. "Stop acting like a dick, and stop treating my friends like your own personal little guinea pigs." He stated fiercely before bending down to pick Snape up by the collar. He whispered into his ear. "You're a bastard and I hate you. I've hated you since day one, and I hope you realize just how much you fucked up in the future." He gave one last punch square in the nose of the boy and walked off.

Snape was left on the ground, huddled against a wall with a bleeding mouth and a broken nose, angrier than he'd ever been in his life. His focus was shifted, no longer on getting Lily, but on getting Sirius to suffer.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

At the beginning of their fourth year, Sirius came to a startling realization. Snape had it out for him. It was only a week into the school year and already he'd had 2 snakes sent after him, which he managed to talk down from a confused state and then release into the forbidden forest, three run-ins with Snape where each time the Slytherin slipped something into Sirius' robe pockets that he would later claim was stolen, and one very nasty encounter with a pissed off hippogriff. Perhaps if Sirius had been paying attention, he would have realized it was a very young Buckbeak, however he was more focused on saving his hide.

Remus had also come to a few conclusions at the beginning of this year as well. He'd been there when the hippogriff attacked, and he'd been the one to help Sirius away from the creature. At that point he understood that Sirius didn't _need _his help. Remus had wound up getting tossed to the side and this did little more than anger Sirius.

It was with great awe and even a tinge of fear that he watched Sirius blast the creature back, sending it flying towards Hagrid's hut. He would have to go apologize for that later. Sirius moved quickly as though he'd been training himself and pounced onto Snape sending a flurry of punches and kicks his way. It was when Sirius had Snape pinned to a large boulder, the other boy's face bloodied and his nose broken yet again that he realized what he was doing.

Sirius stopped. He backed up and trembled, looking at Snape, the state he was in, and the sheer amount of pain on his face. He realized something… Snape was in love. He was in love with Sirius' mother, or Harry's mother more specifically, and he was doing what any man in love would do; trying his best to take out anyone in his way of winning her heart. Granted Sirius knew that it was a very archaic way of doing things, but he saw it for what it was.

Sirius slumped into the grass beside Snape and looked down at the grass. "I'm sorry…" He said, his mind flooding with yet another revelation. He was a grown man, a 24 year old man with the knowledge of fighting that any 24 year old man raised to be a soldier would have, and here he was beating the ever living shit out of a 14 year old boy who was in love. God, he'd never felt lower in his life.

Snape slid from the boulder and scrambled back in the grass. "Fuck off and die." He snarled, kicking some dirt up to Sirius' robes.

Sirius watched in stoic silence as Snape scurried off, probably to the infirmary. He turned and looked back to Remus, his face contorted in some kind of emotion that he didn't think he could express. "I am such an asshole." He said, a sardonic laugh interrupted by a sob following behind it.

Remus was simply glad that Sirius was seeing what he was doing now. He took his turn to hug Sirius and offer some kind of comfort. "He was an asshole first." He tried.

Sirius wiped his tears on his sleeve, shaking his head. "Yeah but I'm a grown man… I should know better." Sirius said, lifting his head up. "I blame the water works on the second puberty." He said with a scoff. He looked at Remus and for a brief second he was pulled to do something he knew he shouldn't. His mind was screaming what he'd just said at him, 'You're a grown man, you should know better!', but Sirius wasn't listening for the moment.

He sniffed and reached out a hand, grabbing on to Remus' chin, and pulled him close, planting a kiss directly on his lips. It was brief, but it was just enough to get the point across. It was over as quickly as it had begun, and Sirius was off in a flash to seriously think about what he'd just done.

Remus sat there with his fingers on his lips and stared at Sirius' retreating figure. He let his body come to rest on the ground and stayed seated, confused and mostly brimming with so many emotions he couldn't seem to keep check on them. He relished the moment, not knowing that it wouldn't be repeated for what seemed like a very long time.

* * *

Sirius wasn't going to allow the incident with Snape to stop him. He spent the better part of the next three months studying everything he could about the castle, finding every lost nook and cranny. Finally it seemed as though the map were completed. He'd also been spending the last week teaching Remus how to add rooms to the map and what to look for when a room needed adding. He wasn't going to spend much more time on the map and handed it over to Remus, leaving it in his possession.

Unfortunately he had a very easy time of acting as though the kiss they shared had never even taken place. It was a bit heartbreaking to Remus, and it filled Sirius with an awful feeling knowing that he'd only confused Remus more, but he couldn't have a real relationship with him, not yet.

As their fourth year went on, he finally saw one of the things he'd been waiting on. James and Lily had really become serious. Sirius and Remus had told them about what Snape had been doing, and Lily had forgave both her boyfriend and the boy who would love her yet never have her until his very last breath, and probably beyond. That was one thing that Sirius had realized about the girl; she was one of the most forgiving people he'd ever met.

It was near the end of the year that everything started going horribly wrong. James had caught Snape trying to spell him with something and in return gave him a taste of his own medicine. Outside in the middle of Hogwarts Grounds he flipped Snape over and hung him upside-down from a tree near the lake. This, of course, sparked the biggest fall-out between Snape and Lily where he called her a mudblood.

Sirius couldn't say that he was sad for Snape because quite frankly he wasn't. He understood that Snape was a man in love, however he also understood that Snape wasn't stable otherwise he wouldn't be doing what he was doing to the group.

The last few days of the school year were as uneventful as they could ever be, and that year as Sirius went back home, he finally realized just how much his 'family' hated him for being a Gryffindor.

Regulus was awaiting him at the front door, and he decked the young man in the jaw. "That's for beating up a Slytherin." He said, referring to the brawl between Sirius and Snape. He jumped on Sirius and grabbed his hair, slamming his head into the ground. "That's for bringing our family name shame. This is the NOBLE and most ANCIENT house of Black, and YOU are killing our entire reputation that we've worked generations to obtain!"

Sirius was disoriented for a few seconds but quickly regained himself. If Regulus thought he was the bane of Sirius' life, he had another thing coming. He'd endured much worse sessions with Dudley. The young man pulled up his leg and kneed Regulus in the groin, sending him to the floor in pain. "I've done nothing but bring good rapport to this family's name." He stated, standing up. He felt the urge to kick Regulus again, however he chose not to. "People are finally considering the Blacks a family that can produce more than just a line of slimy, ignorant assholes who have nothing better to do with their lives than compare blood-statuses."

He left Regulus lying on the ground and traipsed to his room, slamming the door behind him. It wasn't more than ten minutes before his father came into the room, demanding to know why Regulus was lying in the foyer, rolling from one side to the other. While he found it amusing that Sirius could best Regulus, he in no way found the reasoning behind the fight amusing. He told Sirius that he'd wished he would have turned out a bit more like his brother and left the room to inform his wife on the happenings.

That summer Sirius worked more around the house and was treated more like a house elf than he ever had been in his life. At first he considered that he had to deal with this, but as time grew closer to the beginning of the school year he realized that he could do what he wanted. He was a grown man, and despite having the body of a 15 year old, he had the knowledge and know-how to live away from this wretched place.

With only 3 weeks left to go until School started again he devised a plan. In the middle of the night with help from a silencing spell and a house elf who was eager to get him out of the house, he packed what little he knew he needed and left the house to rot. He didn't care if Walburga and Orion Black died sometime soon, as he knew they would from Sirius' stories. He didn't care that soon Regulus would be dying soon as well. All he cared about was working on his ability to withstand the dementors at Azkaban and ensuring that he knew enough to escape. The only thing he didn't know was the exact date that he was supposed to escape, but he could find that out later.

That morning he found himself wandering around when he realized… he didn't know where to go. His first instinct was to return to Hogwarts, however he knew that Dumbledore would be having none of that during the summer. He'd tried that last year and only got informed that the school had to undergo very secret renovations every summer. He fought with himself mentally for a few minutes until he decided to apparate there anyway, if not for anything else than to get Remus' address.

He knew where James had lived, and he knew where Lily lived, however he needed to stay with someone that already knew about what he was going through. That person was Remus. He also knew that it would be kind of hard for Remus to deal with him being around all the time and not responding to his advances.

Sirius frowned and let his stuff drop to the ground, knowing that he couldn't simply spend time with Remus. He huffed. If he had any intention of eating over the summer breaks, it looked like he would have to find somewhere else to stay. He glanced around him and straightened up a bit. If he remembered correctly, he would have to be living on his own and virtually homeless later, he could start learning how to rough it now. Sirius spent the better part of the next three weeks trying to figure out the quickest way to set up a temporary home in the forest.

This summer had been a turning point for Regulus, one where he realized something. He wouldn't tell anyone, but Sirius was right; Sirius had been bringing positive 'reviews' of the family, so to speak. Regulus felt a sense of shame that he'd never felt before and he vowed that even if he died doing it, he would eventually help Sirius in clearing the family name. He'd wanted to tell Sirius about this decision, but he'd had no idea that their last fight was the last time he would see his brother.

It wasn't until school started again, his 5th year, that anyone even realized something wasn't right. His parents had naturally assumed he was over at James' house, however when they floo'd to ask why he hadn't visited them that year, they found that the boy had run away. Walburga was not pleased at all and she spent most of her time ranting about the ungrateful little cretin that they'd had the kindness to adopt from whatever hell he'd been a part of who threw everything back into their faces and ran off like some untaught hooligan. Orion, on the other hand, was simply worried about his son.

What Sirius didn't know was that lurking in the shadows were two small eyes, watching his every move. He had a visitor, and if he'd bother to pay attention to his surroundings he would have heard the scuttling around of little feet.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The little beady eyes watched Sirius' every move for nearly five days after school had started. He felt many times that something was watching him; however he couldn't put his finger on it. He went along his business as usual, however he took care to not do anything too spectacular in case he was right and someone was watching him. A part of him felt overly paranoid, but with what he'd experienced in the past he knew that there was no way he could just ignore his gut.

It wasn't until the 6th day that Sirius had started putting things together. Peter had been disappearing after their classes were over, and Sirius had never felt watched until then. In his mind it was fairly obvious what was going on and he decided to confront Peter about it. He wasn't going to have the boy spying on them for the Dark Lord.

Sirius paused a moment. The Dark Lord? Why in Merlin's name did he think that instead of the name Voldemort? He shrugged it off and waited for his chance to speak with Peter. He couldn't get ahold of the boy on the 7th day of term, but on the 8th he finally managed to catch him after class. He had to ask to be excused to go to the nurse just before class had let out, however he did catch Peter before he had a chance to wander off.

"Why have you been watching me?" He demanded, pulling Peter into one of the hidden hallways.

Peter looked confused. "I haven't been following you I don't think." Panic flashed in his eyes. "Are you- does that mean that I'm- I swear I wasn't following anybody."

"Then explain to me why we never see you after class anymore." Sirius demanded, crossing his arms and blocking the other boy's exit.

Peter glared at the ground. "Last year when you and James had decided to prank the staff by repainting the professor's lounge, we left in intervals of 5 minutes. I was the last one to leave and one of the professors saw me and since it was the last day, he gave me a standing detention for the first month of the school year." He kicked at the wall. "Nobody sees me because I'm supposed to report directly to him and I'm not let out until just before curfew." He raised his head to glare at Sirius. "And now I'm going to be late no thanks to you! I'll probably get another week's detention. Are you happy now?"

Sirius let his guard down and stepped to the side, not looking at the other boy as he left. Well whatever was following him, it wasn't Peter's animagus. He cracked his neck and went off on a search for Severus. He needed that Wolfsbane potion for Remus, and he wasn't going to take no for an answer this time.

Traveling down into the Slytherin dungeons had become trickier as of late, what with his brother Regulus not having gone to school this year and thus the children not in the know thinking that Sirius had killed or hospitalized him. For those that did know, Regulus had chosen not to finish school so that he could have more time to devote to his 'extracurricular' activities with Voldemort.

Sirius managed it though, and he only had to spell a kid's shirt to the wall once. He moseyed down to the potions lab, and sure enough Severus was there. "Snape," A smile formed on his face when the boy turned around suddenly. "Have you completed the wolfsbane potion?" He asked, his hand on his wand fully ready should he need it.

Severus sneered toward him. "You're not getting any."

Sirius frowned a moment. This was so very unlike the Snape he knew. What he'd said gave away that he had finished the product; where was the misleading fork, where were the words that almost nobody knew? He sighed and thunked his hand against his head. "Okay, first of all, what the hell?" He asked, looking over to Snape. "You don't talk like that. You should never talk like that."

"What are you on about, Black?"

"You gave away that you had finished the potion by telling me that I wasn't getting any. That means I now know that you have it and we both know that I'm not going relent until I work out something where you supply me with a Wolfsbane potion every month."

"Well what else was I supposed to say? 'Ooh, here Mr. Gryffindor, just let me work my ass of for you every month to make sure you have a wolfsbane potion.' Th-"

Sirius quickly slapped his hand into Severus' hand. "I accept." He stated, a golden thread wrapping around both of their wrists, holding them together. He smirked as Snape pulled, trying to get out of it. "Okay, so I believe you already know what this is?"

"Yes, it's an unbreakable vow, now CANCEL IT!" Severus demanded.

"Sorry, no can do. You've just made an unbreakable vow to supply me with Wolfsbane every month." He watched the rage build in Severus' face as the thread dissipated into their arms. "I'll consider the vow to be active for the next 40 years or until I can find another supplier, whichever comes first. In return, instead of Galleons I'll teach you a few life lessons that you're gonna thank me for one day, no matter how much you do hate me." He walked over to a chair and rolled his eyes at Severus who was now growling at him. "Lesson 1; never give away information that you don't have to. If someone asked how you are, you say something like, 'as well as can be expected', or, 'the same as I have been for a while'."

"Fuck off." Severus hissed, stirring his potion angrily.

"Lesson 2, swearing does not become you. It's not scary or intimidating unless you're super pissed, and the less you use swears, the more power and effect they have when you do use them." Sirius continued on.

"Look, leave me alone. You already have your stupid wolfsbane potion." Snape tried.

"Lesson 3, don't beg. It doesn't matter if you're being bullied by an asshole Gryffindor, and it doesn't matter if you're being tortured by the Dark Lord – don't beg, particularly if that's what they want to hear because then you're just giving them more incentive to do it again later." Severus only grunted this time in response. "Lesson 4, get to work! You are a fucking _brilliant_ potion and spell crafter, and maybe if you'd spend a little less time worrying about other people you'd see that."

"Wait, what?" Snape asked, pausing his motions. He glanced to Harry then back to the cauldron and took up stirring again, faster than before. "Why did you even compliment me?"

"Because it's true and I told you, life lessons. This isn't bullshit, I'm actually trying to help you here. Now shut up and accept the help or I'll dig up some juicy memories of yours and share them with my house."

"Pff, like you could do that." Severus scoffed.

"Lesson five, learn about Occlumency and Legilimency." Sirius deadpanned before raising his wand and invading the boy's mind. He didn't look for anything in particular, simply scanned over the memories of their last few encounters.

Severus was knocked to the ground much as Harry had been during their first tries at teaching the boy to occlude. Sirius finally let him go. "What… in Merlin's name… was that?" Severus asked, looking up to Sirius' face.

"That was me invading your mind. Just be glad I didn't look for something to torture you with. Like I said, occlumency and legilimency, look them up."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because you're an asshole, and the sooner you accept and embrace that, the sooner I can go back to simply loathing you rather than feeling sorry for you, I don't actually hate you I just said that because I was pissed, and I will expect the wolfsbane to be ready 3 days before the full moon every month." He turned and walked out of the room heading for the Gryffindor Tower.

Severus could be heard letting something drop on the floor. "I _hate _Gryffindors!"

* * *

Sirius was relaxing on a Saturday some 2 weeks after his encounter with Snape. Today was the day that he should be receiving the Wolfsbane potion. He had his best friend and god-father set up with a potion to keep his inner werewolf under some form of control for the next 40 years and he watched as his father and mother started to actually cross the boundaries of falling in love. He still had no idea what he was going to do with Remus.

He'd been watching Remus every year, but this year there was something different about the boy. He was quieter, more reserved. He seemed angrier about his condition than before. He wasn't really spending much time with his friends after class.

Sirius received a house elf bringing him a potion vial; the wolfsbane. He smiled and thanked the elf before rushing off to find Remus. This would surely make him feel better. Finally when he cornered him he held the vial up to the young man. "You'll never guess what I have." He said, swinging it to and fro.

"Is it a potion?" Remus asked sarcastically.

"Obviously. It's a wolfsbane potion." Sirius said, handing it to him.

Remus took the potion in his hand and looked at it, confused. "And what does it do?"

"When you transform on a full moon it keeps you from completely losing your mind. I mean, you're still kinda wolfish but you have more control, your human mind." Sirius said, hardly able to keep from bouncing. He was truly excited for his friend. "You take it a few hours before nightfall on the full moon."

Remus frowned at it and then to Sirius. "And where did something like this come from?"

"Snape." Sirius stated with certainty.

"Okay now I know you're trying to poison me. Snape? You really think that Snape would give you the right potion?"

"He has to, he's bound by an unbreakable vow." Sirius stated, grinning from ear to ear. "For the next forty years."

Remus was wary about trying this potion, not only because it came from Snape but because he had no idea how it would react with him. He knew what he was told and he thought that Sirius wouldn't intentionally lie to him about something like this, but he still had never tried it before, thus leaving him with only one option in his mind. "Alright, I'll take it." He glanced back to Sirius and shook his head. "Do I really wanna know how you got Snape to make an unbreakable vow to give me potions for the next 40 years?"

"He walked into it." Sirius stated, crossing his arms and leaning back. "He's the one who said the phrase, I just slapped him with a vow."

Remus frowned. "It's not that easy though, you have to prepare to make a vow, you have to say the spell, hold out your hands, let the twine string around it-"

"Okay, so part of it was a trick." Sirius rolled his eyes. "I did the spell but it was nonverbal and I grabbed his hand and told him that now he had to do it, then he agreed thinking that he had to, but how else was I going to get him to do it? Besides, I've been nice enough to him in return…" He muttered.

Remus laughed in disbelief. "Nice enough to him? Sirry, you've beat him up twice, tricked him into doing something he didn't want to, pranked him consistently throughout the years, and knowing you I bet you even went as far as to make him make the damn thing."

"No, no that was his doing entirely. He made it all on his own, I just saw the chance and pounced." He shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, it has a good outcome, what's wrong with doing that? And fu- wait… did you just call me Sirry?"

Remus' eyes widened and he cleared his throat. "I did… sorry I won't d-"

Sirius shook his head and laughed. "Don't worry about it, Remy." He said with a wry grin.

Remus stuck his tongue out at the young man and silently wondered if he should send Severus some money each month to pay for the costs of the potion. He decided that he would talk to the Slytherin about it later.

Sirius made his way back to the common room, still feeling uneasy about the eyes watching him. He was no closer to finding out who or what kept him on edge, but he hoped he'd find out soon.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Sirius never did find out who or what had been watching him. After nearly 3 more weeks of the uneasy feeling and missing 2 days of school while wandering around the hidden halls of the castle, the feeling stopped as suddenly as it had started. Apparently whatever the reasoning was, it had gotten what it wanted and left. He only hoped that it was gone for good, never to return.

Time seemed to go by a bit quicker throughout his 5th year… or was it slower? He couldn't tell anymore. While he was awake during the day it seemed like everything was going at such a mind-numbingly slow pace that he might as well be stuck going at half speed, but when he thought about the past, how much time had passed, and even things that he did less than a month ago, it felt like life was just speeding by.

During the second half of the year he'd gotten to the point that he'd started sleeping in, missing meals, and missing classes again. Of course he was reprimanded, and it did nothing for his reputation as a prankster always getting into trouble, but it did show him a few things about himself that he'd never known. This experience showed him that it was insanely easy to mess up a schedule just by staying up later than he had been, and it showed him that time wasn't really as important as he'd thought it was.

Yes, time had its important features, particularly if you had agreed to be somewhere to meet someone or do something; in those cases time was extremely important. In the grand scale of things, minutes and seconds, even hours and days really didn't mean a lot to him anymore. He was tired of school; he'd been Hogwarts school for 9 years now with a 5 year break where he was forced to relearn things that he'd already known and pretend not to know certain things until a certain age where it was acceptable. He was thankful that the years were passing as quickly as they were as soon he would no longer have to pretend to be at a lower intelligence level than he was.

He was also terrified. As the year grew to a close he couldn't help but remember every story about every bad thing that Sirius had told him, or that he had told himself. He remembered the bit about Regulus dying soon and although he had a genuine concern for his brother, he didn't make any effort to contact him. He'd remembered about Orion dying soon as well and knew that it would send his mother into what could only be described as insanity. He also couldn't stop thinking about Azkaban, thinking about how crazy Sirius had looked when he'd escaped.

Every day that summer he practiced with his animagus, trying to get to the point that he could shift with ease. He studied other dogs, learned how to truly act like a dog and not like a human disguised as a dog. He would test himself, going up to strangers on the street. When he had finally stopped receiving lines like, 'Oh you're such a smart dog', and, 'Look at all the tricks he can do', he considered his acting a success.

He didn't see any of Regulus during the summer either, and his concern grew. The last thing that they'd done was fight and he didn't want his brother to die thinking that he hated him. He also knew that nothing could really be done at this point, so in silence nearly 2 years before the time Sirius had said Regulus would die, a much younger Sirius mourned him.

His home pretty much consisted of a box under a bridge in muggle London; the place chosen since he was less likely to see someone from school there. Although the likelihood was slim, he should have expected to see someone he knew because he was, after all, not normal. Nothing normal ever happened to him. That was the mantra going through his head as he hid from Lily Evans who was making her way throughout the town looking for things for her mother.

He felt lucky that she'd not seen him, however that feeling was soon replaced with dread when he saw Petunia following behind Lily. Not only did Petunia see him, she pointed him out to her sister. "Oh my god, that boy is under a bridge. He's homeless and he doesn't look any older than us." She said, tugging on her sister's arm.

Lily looked to where Petunia had been looking and gasped when she saw the young man. "Sirius?" She called, running over to him.

Petunia scowled. Sirius… she'd known that name from her sister's ramblings about those freaks at that magic school. Just her luck they would run into another freak. She ditched her sister, going off to the store as she didn't want to hear them gushing over their stupid magic stuff.

"Sirius, what are you doing out here?" Lily asked, bending down and looking at the collection of stuff he had. "Why aren't you at home?"

"I didn't want to stay… home sucks." He replied, tucking his legs up closer to him.

"Well you can't stay here, I won't let you. I can talk to mom about you staying with us and I'm sure that Petunia won-"

"No! I'm not- I mean… no." He didn't want to have to live with his wretched aunt any more than necessary. "I'd like not to if you don't mind… I'd rather live with Snape."

Lily huffed, standing up some. "You know, I thought you were better than that, I thought you of all people wouldn't refuse someone simply because they were a muggle-born and further more-"

"That's not it I promise." He tried, looking back up to her with a plea in his eyes. "I swear that has nothing to do with it." He couldn't very well tell her that he was a half-blood, he couldn't tell her that he hated Petunia when he wasn't supposed to have met her yet. He searched his mind trying to find an excuse. "I know that if I stayed with you, James would start asking questions and I don't even want to put him in a position where he wonders whether or not you're cheating on him with me, okay?"

Lily's features softened some and she nodded. "Yeah, he is a little bit possessive." She agreed, stooping down to crouch near him. "Well I'm not letting you stay here, and I know that James can't have you because his dad is just really sick right now… why don't you ask Remus if his family will take you?" She suggested hopefully.

Sirius shook his head and wrapped his arms around his knees. "I couldn't put them out like that, they already have such a hard time with him."

Lily cocked her head to the side, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well with his being a werewolf an-"

"You have got to be kidding." Lily stated, astonished.

"Oh shit…" Sirius stated, staring at the girl. "I thought he'd told you I- forget I ever said anything!"

Lily grinned and nudged him with her elbow. "He did tell me, silly. I was just messing with you."

Sirius heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank Merlin."

"They've not been having any trouble with him lately though, not hardly at all this year. I think that potion that I keep seeing him fiddle with every full moon is helping, whatever it is. I think you should give him a call." She stood up and brushed her dress off. "I'll be calling him tomorrow to see if you have." She stated with a nod.

"Yes, mother." Sirius said sarcastically. He caught what he'd said after it and suddenly felt the fastest sinking feeling he'd ever felt. Grief swept over him as he remembered that Lily and James were both going to die in 5 years. A wave of fear followed quickly behind when he realized that in only 5 years he would be framed for his parents' murder and swept off to Azkaban. "Go away…" He whispered, desperately digging his nails into his knees. "I'll call him tonight, go shop with your sister, just… please… I need to be alone right now." He begged.

Lily frowned, kissed him on the cheek, and obliged to his wishes, leaving him be. She didn't know what was going on with him but she was certainly worried now.

* * *

"No, we are not housing a runaway in the house just because he's your friend. He needs to go back home to his parents."

"But please, he-"

"No buts! His parents are probably worried sick over him right now and I will not be a part of this, and neither will you."

"If you'd just listen to me-"

"I have listened! I've listened and I've considered, and I've made my decision and that's final. He's 15 Remus, he isn't equipped to live away from his parents yet, he's barely making the transition into adulthood! No, and that's final."

The memory of Remus arguing with his parents dissolved and Sirius sighed, leaning back against the wall. He glanced to Remus who was sitting on the other side of his cubby hole under the bridge. "It's alright, I can rough it out here." He offered.

Remus huffed angrily. "I don't care… if you're going to stay out here then I will too!" He stated adamantly.

"No, you're going to go back home to your parents. She was right about one thing; a 15 year old shouldn't be living under a bridge. I'm not really 15, I'm 25, hell I'm almost 26. You are 15 though, so no I'm not going to let you do this to yourself." Sirius told him, munching on an apple that he'd found earlier that day.

"I am not going to leave you out here to just rot." Remus glared at the other boy.

"Fine then, bring me some food a few times a week." Sirius offered, trying to get both food secured for him and Remus to feel better about the situation.

Remus stared at him for some time trying to figure out if he was being serious or not, then finally agreed. "Fine… I'll do that, but I demand to at least get to stay with you 1 night a week."

Sirius narrowed his eyes at the boy. "No. You're not sleeping under a bridge when you have a perfectly usable bed at home."

"But you are!"

"That's different, I'm older and I'm making my own decisions, no matter how awful they may be."

Remus let out a noise of utter frustration but eventually relented. Truth be told he didn't want to spend the night under a bridge, but he also didn't want his best friend to have to do it alone either. He left that evening feeling scolded as though he were being treated like a child, but at the same time knowing that Sirius was right.

Sirius spent the rest of the week wondering if he was going to tell anyone that he would wind up in Azkaban. He decided to save that until later when the time came closer, but did ultimately chose that yes, he would tell Dumbledore. Not until 7th year though.

Sitting alone under the bridge, he tucked his feet under him when the rain started again. "Oh great, another rainy day in London." He muttered, leaning back against the arch's inner wall. He sighed and reached up, pulling on a string that let a curtain fall. The curtain was charmed with a disillusionment spell keeping people from realizing that someone was over there when it was down.

He curled up and lay his head on the cold stone floor, waiting for sleep to take him. He hated this part of the year and he couldn't wait until school started again.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Sirius' 6th year passed without much happening. Mostly everything was as normal as could be, and in between his breakdowns about losing everyone that he cared about, he had what amounted to a wonderful time with his friends. That year was the best for them, or the worst for the staff, depending on how one chose to look at it. They had pranked nearly everyone in the school that year, and they'd made several more items that Sirius had remembered seeing the twins use.

Peter had grown back into the group and he seemed to have more confidence. What none of them knew but Sirius suspected was that Peter had taken league with the Dark Lord.

It was at the end of this year that Dumbledore had pulled him to the side and let him in on a few things. He'd called Sirius up to his office and erected a silencing barrier before starting the conversation. "I am sure that you've noticed something has been watching you, my boy… I would like you to know that it was me. Now before you say anything, I have some news for you and I'd appreciate it if you would let me get it all out in one piece. Perhaps take notes on what you wish to speak about afterward?"

Sirius frowned but nodded his agreement and was promptly given a parchment and quill.

Albus folded his hands and started in on what he had to say. "I've been watching you; I've even been looking through your mind with Legilimency to see what you have been up to. I've noticed a few things and I've also learned a few things that will benefit you in the long run. Before I go much further, I need to let you know that I know how to return you to your own body at the exact time you left. As you are well aware, and I am thanks to your memories, Sirius will fall into the veil during Harry's 5th year. That falling into the veil is actually what is needed for you to transition back into Harry's body. As you know the time turner has led you here, and that is particularly what the veil is for; to fix mistakes in time. Although it does not rewrite history, it puts the person into the accurate body for that time. Luckily it won't erase your memories, so if you have any intention of fighting off Voldemort when you return to your natural body, you need to spend your time remaining here wisely."

Sirius hadn't taken any notes at this point, he only stared at the old man looking as though he'd been slapped.

"Now doing this will, in essence, be the death of Sirius Black, however you will be reborn in the room at the exact time you left to travel back in time. This means there will be a few months of time that will not be accounted for in your life; think of it as a coma. Now, to get you into the veil I have been working with one of the children that I have been… well I suppose the only real way to phrase this is as bluntly as possible. Bellatrix works for me, she doesn't work for Voldemort. She is a spy, and I think you deserve to know this. I've seen your memory of the ordeal, and it looks as though everything pans out for the better, so we should be able to get you back safe and sound. Now there probably won't be anyone there to receive you when you come back, so I suggest trying your animagus out in Harry's body to escape. The Ministry won't be able to detect it as long as you cast a certain spell over yourself just before you do it, and I will teach you that spell next year."

Sirius' breathing started to get heavier and his mind started reeling.

"What I need you to do is spend the next few years of your life entirely dedicated to defeating Voldemort. You must be brave; you must learn these moves until it gets to the point that you absolutely could do them wordlessly and wandlessly with ease. It must become a muscle memory, you _must_ do this. Do you understand? Give me a nod if you do." He paused for a moment and finally Sirius nodded. He wished he didn't have to lie to the boy, he wished that he could tell him the truth but… that one necessary lie to keep him from refusing to do all of this was what was needed. "Now, I will ensure that you pass your last year as long as you can ensure that you will devote any and all of your spare time to DADA training, even going as far as to learn some Dark Arts yourself. You must be ready for ANYTHING. Do I make myself clear?" Sirius nodded again and Dumbledore smiled. "Do not worry, my boy, all will be fine."

* * *

Sirius spent the next few years of his life doing exactly what Dumbledore had planned for him to do. He trained until he was blue in the face, until he had broken nearly every bone in his body twice, until he could master certain spells that should help him in the final battle. He started growing apart from James, Lily, Peter, and Remus. He wasn't seen around as much.

Rumors had started flying that he'd joined up with Voldemort, that the Black family had forced him to follow in the footsteps of his brother. Only those in the Order knew that those rumors weren't true, however some still had their doubts. Even Remus had begun to wonder.

Just as the boy had truly gained muscle memory for the spells he was forced to do, the fateful day that James and Lily was just around the corner. It was Halloween, 1981 and Sirius was berating himself, hitting his head against the wall. He'd let the time just slip away, he'd allowed that barmy old Headmaster to completely engulf his life. He hadn't been spending his time with his friends. Remus even seemed different. He never brought up anything about Sirius' life when he was Harry and he'd never even acted like he knew there was any kind of connection between James and Sirius other than that they were great friends.

Sirius found out quickly that Dumbledore had used mind magic on Remus, erasing anything that had to do with Harry Potter being Sirius Black. He'd ensured that Remus couldn't accidentally give something away to the enemy without knowing it. Sirius was furious over this; it was one of the main things that held his and Remus' bond together but as those memories were wiped, their bond grew further and further apart.

Sirius decided that he couldn't wait around. He had realized that he had changed a few of the smaller things from the stories that he'd told himself and he absolutely had to ensure that he changed this! He ran as fast as his legs could take him to the closet that had been assigned to him in the current Order's location. He mounted it and flew towards Godric's Hollow, hoping that he would be in time to stop Voldemort, to stop his parents' death, to stop it all!

He didn't care that his hair was whipping him in the face as he flew, he didn't care that he was really only half dressed with a robe haphazardly thrown on him, and he didn't care that he might send ripples throughout the universe. He needed to save his parents; that was all he cared about.

When he landed he saw what he'd most feared; perfect stillness and perfect silence. "No…" He whispered, praying that he wasn't too late. He burst into the door and looked around frantically. He pulled at his hair when he saw James lying on the floor, lifeless. "No!" He cried out, ripping some of his hair and letting it fall to the ground. He bent down and cradled his father as he heard himself muttering baby gibberish in the room above him.

He let his father go and went to check on Lily, finding much the same situation. He dropped his wand and it rolled to the top of the stairs, almost falling down them but not quite making it that far. He curled in on himself and let out an inhuman scream, the anguish and despair that he felt engulfing his entire being.

Suddenly he paused and had an idea. He just had to go back again, he could change it again! He needed to find a time turner. He ran from the house, half crazed looking, searching for his broom. It was nowhere to be found. He let out another shriek of frustration and ran toward the main road before remembering that he could apparate. Unfortunately for him, he had already been identified by two neighbors as Sirius Black and the floo calls had been placed, alerting the Ministry that something had went down in Godric's Hollow.

Sirius was soon located at Hogwarts and taken into custody as the prime suspect in James and Lily Potter's murder. Yes, the Ministry had found Voldemort's wand, but they had also found Sirius' wand, and Peter's finger at a nearby sight, alongside the bodies of 12 muggles.

Yes, Sirius had changed things alright; he'd ensured that he would be caught quicker than if he would have confronted Peter himself. He knew he was going to Azkaban, he knew that much wouldn't be changed, but still every step of the way he denied and tried to tell them that it was Peter. His ramblings were seen as a desperate man trying to pin the crime on someone else.

Dumbledore did not offer him any help in this matter. He attended the hearing and watched Sirius break down on the stand, but he did not offer any form of defense for the young man. In his mind this was as it needed to happen.

Sirius was promptly jailed in Azkaban. The only thing that the guards allowed him was a calendar and a stamp to mark the days; he wasn't allowed a quill seeing as they thought he might use it to kill himself.

Every day at the crack of dawn, like clockwork, the dementors would pass by his cell sucking the happiness out of him. In merely 3 weeks he was left a shell of the man he was before, drowning in guilt and sorrow, worrying about the future and his past, even going so far as to scream to the guards passing his innocence. There was no use though, no use whatsoever.

He did do one thing though, a daily routine. As night was setting and the prisoners would be forced into bed, he would practice the spells he had learned in his mind. His cell was protected against magic of any kind though, and this had him wondering just how he was going to escape.

Within 5 months of his incarceration he was delivering death threats to the other prisoners on his block. Another 2 months later he was begging for death. His mind and sanity were slowly draining.

It was nearly 2 years before some semblance of sanity returned to him in the form of a new guard. The guard, who refused to tell Sirius his name, brought him things. He started off bringing him food, then letters from the outside, from Dumbledore. In one such letter Dumbledore explained the guard's attitude as being so considerate towards him because he was a member of the Order and was very important for the future. In encrypted messages sent to him that he'd have to have at least 3 letters to put together, Sirius learned that his escape was being planned down to the very last detail.

For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, Sirius Black had hope. Try as they might, the dementors were never able to tarnish that hope. The unnamed guard would stop by every week, giving him one thing or another. Sirius could never quite place it, but there was something familiar about the guard. Trusting the guard became easy, and soon, Sirius was spilling information about himself to the guard.


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N: **_Since you already know what happened during Sirius' time with Harry and the rest up until the veil, I have chosen not to write it. This story wasn't even meant to be over 10 chapters and it's already gone past that, so my apologies to anyone who is irritated by this.

**Chapter 11**

"I'm a psychopath, you know that right?" Sirius asked the guard during one of their weekly chats. He was sitting up against the bars on his cell with his back facing the guard.

The guard laughed a moment and shook his head. "No, you're not a psychopath." He stated within the confines of their silencing barrier.

"Yes I am… I'm in love with one of my godfathers – well love may not be the right word… I certainly like him, I appreciate him and I think he's grown to be one of the nicest looking men I've ever met… but he's my godfather. That's horrid, isn't it?"

The guard shrugged. "It could be worse… you could be in love with your own father."

Sirius chuckled and nodded his head. "True… It's not even like I'm gay though, I'm mostly straight… I just… I don't know there's something about him." He mused.

He guard shifted uncomfortably in his seat and looked to Sirius. It was 1993, the year that Sirius was set to escape. The month was October and the guard knew he was cutting it insanely close considering this would be the second to last time he would see the inmate before he aided in his escape. He cleared his throat and glanced around, ensuring the others were asleep. "I must tell you something." He whispered, despite the barrier.

Sirius frowned at the sudden change in tone and looked back to the guard. "What is it?"

The guard shifted uncomfortably. "In preparation for your escape, Albus has given me some very strange orders… I intend to follow most of these orders, however there is one that I will not. He told me to make my way to the Ministry the day you're supposed to return and tape a note to the veil's arch asking you to shift to your animagus."

Sirius shook his head. "There's no need, I already plan on doing that." He stated with confidence.

"No, you don't understand, shut up and let me finish." He snapped. He cleared his throat again and apologized. "Sorry, I just… look, he told me that once you come back through the veil you're going to lose all memory of being Sirius… that you'll only have the muscle memory of the spells he's had you do… I don't think it's fair, I think you should remember being who you are; it's a part of your life after all." He watched Sirius' face contort into something that reflected betrayal. "I've been working on a spell for you and it will allow you to keep most of your memories. I've had a bit of help making it though, and I hope that it works. If all goes as planned it should work. All you need to do is cast it on yourself before you go to the Ministry; can you do that?"

Sirius nodded his head. "I've spent the last decade practicing spells, I don't see why I couldn't add another to the list." He said with a half smirk. He was so looking forward to his escape; although he knew that Sirius Black as everyone knew him would inevitably die, he also knew that he would be able to go back and do what he needed to. "I think that the biggest testament to my sheer willpower is how well I'm hiding my pure rage at the old bastard for using me like he has…"

"You're not hiding it very well; your hands are bleeding." The guard pointed out.

Sirius wiped the blood on his clothing. He'd been digging his nails into his palms again. He sighed and glanced back to the guard. "Will you do me one big favor? At least tell me who you are? I want to know who to thank when I get back home…" He muttered, trying to see past the guard's glamour.

The guard shook his head. "I can't do that… maybe one day I'll let you know, but not any time soon." He coughed and glanced to his watch. "Alright, I need to teach you that spell, it's almost time for me to go."

* * *

The day of the escape Sirius was beyond nervous. He was completely rattled, trying his best to act as inconspicuous as possible. Finally he saw his guard coming up the way and his heart leapt in his chest. He wasn't sure how they were going to pull this off, all he knew is that it had to happen because his younger self could clearly remember Sirius as a separate person.

He cracked his neck and leaned against the wall. The guard walked up to his cell and opened it. "30846, your presence has been demanded by the Wizengamot." He stated, pulling his wand. "Assume the position."

Sirius held his hands out to have them bound with nothing more than a light. The light was impenetrable though, and kept him from moving them. He followed along silently as the guard led him out to the floo. He hadn't been filled in 100% on how the escape was going to happen, hence the sense of trepidation he felt going through with it at this time.

Soon they were out at a fireplace, the prison's floo. His guard called out for the Ministry of Magic and they stepped in. Sometime during their travel the guard removed the light from Sirius' wrists and Sirius took that moment to transform into his animagus. The guard pushed him off course, sending him somewhere else entirely.

To Sirius' surprise he found himself in the floo of Arabella Figg, an older woman who loved cats and smelled of cabbages that used to babysit him. He stumbled out and the woman glanced to a clock. "Right on time…" She muttered, pulling out a box. "I believe someone wanted you to have this… his name was Remus." She said, watching with a smile as he opened it. It was the cloak of invisibility.

Sirius smiled and held it tight to his chest. "Thank you." He whispered before shifting to his animagus and making his way out of the house. The first thing he saw was himself, making his way to be picked up by the Knight Bus.

* * *

The years he had to spend with his younger self proved to be of great happiness for him. He often found himself shaking his head at the innocence he carried, despite having led the life he had. He was almost always there, watching… waiting. He was also practicing the spell that his guard had given him, daily without fail. He would remember and he would make Dumbledore pay for trying to make him forget.

He'd thought several times of taking the spell to Snape to see if he thought it would work, however he had ultimately decided against that. If he couldn't take the word of whoever had given him the spell, then perhaps it was not meant to be.

He'd considered himself going soft in his old age, not that he was too old to begin with. He was spending a night in Grimmuald Place, waiting on the call that they were to go to the Ministry when Hermione had entered and have him a glare. "Why have you been practicing a memory erasing spell?" She demanded.

Sirius looked to her with a frown. "What do you mean?"

"That spell you were doing this morning in the mirror – that was a memory erasing spell. All you really need to figure that out is a basic knowledge of Latin, and I want to know why you were doing it. Whose memory are you planning on erasing?"

Sirius shifted positions and tilted his head towards her. He looked around then cast a silencing barrier around them. "Hermione, it's not an erasing spell, it's a spell to ensure that I retain my memories, no matter what."

The girl shook her head. "Whoever taught you that spell is trying to con you. Look at the words! Vixtermita, it's a mixture of 'extermina vita' which means 'erase life'. The way the words are set up suggests it's a memory spell rather than a killing spell, and quite frankly I don't see how you didn't see that earlier! It's a spell to erase an entire lifetime's worth of memories from a person's mind."

Sirius sat there, half enraged. He didn't know who to believe anymore; the guard who had helped him escape or the old man who had taught him so many spells. Hell for all he knew they were one and the same! He stood, dismantling the barrier and decided to confront Dumbledore about this himself when the call came in to go to the Ministry.

Sirius panicked. He was on autopilot, going where he was led, following the children around, ensuring that others didn't get hurt. He and Bellatrix had been choreographing their escapade for weeks now and he was the only one of the Order who knew her to be a spy, besides Dumbledore that is. He knew the time was coming, but what should he do? Should he cast the spell on himself before they got to the room? Would it do as Hermione had said?

He suddenly stopped. Hermione was the brightest witch of her age; she'd never lied to him as Harry and as far as he knew she'd never lie to him as Sirius. He trusted Dumbledore more than the guard, however it had seemed as though Dumbledore were lying about something every time they spoke of the veil.

His mind was reeling; what the HELL was he going to do about all of this?! Time was drawing closer, the first shot had been fired! He had no time to think, only act. Sirius fought his way into the room that held the veil. Was he really going to trust his life to someone who had spent all of both of his lives lying to him? Yes… yes he was. He didn't bother with the spell that the guard had given him and with impeccably choreographed moves, he watched the utter despair in his younger self's face as he fell through the veil.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Harry tumbled out of the veil and onto the floor. The very first thing he did was vomit, the second thing was clean the mess. He felt his body and sure enough, his wand was at his side, his hair was short, there was a scar on his forehead, and he was wearing glasses. He was himself again.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he suddenly realized that he remembered! He could remember being Sirius! This meant that the guard was the liar, the guard was trying to make him forget, but who in Merlin's name could the guard have been? He stopped, closed his eyes, cast a spell, and shifted into his animagus.

He tripped over himself. This was not the same animagus that he'd had as Sirius, its limbs were longer and its fur shorter; straighter. He didn't have the time to figure out what he was; right now he needed to get out of there as quickly as possible. He ran to the door and realized that he was something he never could have guessed. He was, just as his father had been, a stag. He backed up and tapped the ground with his front right hoof. He lowered his head and charged the door, breaking it down and running through the Ministry as though his life depended on it. Thank Merlin he'd left for the past at night and he didn't have to worry and bursting through a crowd.

Alarms rang in his ears, witches and wizards who were on the security staff and thus on the building's list started apparating in, and Harry ran. He had to throw a few people out of the way, and his antlers weren't a thing that he was used to. Three times he got caught on doors and each time another bit of his antlers chipped away. By the time he'd gotten outside his antlers were cracked, chipped, and even broken in some places. He looked less like a majestic stag and more like a deer that had gotten into a bad fight and lost.

He ran to the woods trying to get away. In one swoop he shifted back into a human and apparated off to Grimmuald Place. Harry Potter stood panting in the middle of a meeting having just appeared there and startling everyone. It was a meeting that he hadn't been invited to. He glanced up in the dead silence and walked up to Dumbledore, holding his wand to the man angrily. "You erased Remus' memory." He accused.

Remus frowned and looked towards the boy. "I believe I can remember everything, Harry."

"Shut up Remus!" Harry shouted, not taking his eyes from Albus. "You erased his memory of everything that had happened."

Albus eyed the boy warily. "And what makes you so sure of this? What memories could you possibly be talking about?"

Harry pushed his wand into Albus' throat and soon had the wands of nearly half of the Order pointed at him. It didn't take him long to figure it out. "You… you were guard. You earned my trust, listened to my ramblings, and then you tried to make me forget!" He yelled.

Hermione tried reasoning with him. "Harry what are you talking about? This is Dumbledore!"

"Hermione, thank you, but NOT NOW!" Harry called. He lifted his head and sneered at the old man. "Look at the root words of the spell that you gave me, extermina meant erase! YOU MADE ME TRY TO ERASE MY OWN MEMORY!"

Hermione clutched her wand tightly and shook a bit. "Harry yo-"

"SHUT UP HERMOINE this is between Albus and I!" Harry cried. "Why would you do that?!"

Albus almost looked pained. "I simply don't know what you're talking about, Harry, what's wrong? Nobody's touched Remus or-"

"Don't give me that wishy washy crap, tell me the truth old man, or I'll put all those spells you made me learn to use on you!" Harry threatened. "I remember everything. Now I want you to give Remus his memories back, explain to me why you wanted me to forget, and I'll let you go. Otherwise I'm going down in a blaze of glory and-"

"He wasn't the guard!" A voice called from the back of the room. "I was… I tried to make you forget, I erased Remus' memories… If you want to hurt someone, hurt me. Dumbledore's telling the truth."

Harry watched with wide eyes as Bill Weasley stepped out from the others. "Bill?" He asked, his face contorted in betrayal yet again. "Why?"

"Because you're too strong, Potter." The man replied, holding his own wand up as Harry dropped his hand. "You've got the memories of an entire lifetime under your belt before you're even 20; if you decide to go dark side there is almost nothing that anyone could do to stop you. Nobody can be trusted with that kind of power."

Albus raised his own wand and pointed it towards the young man. "Mr. Weasley you have disappointed me. I assigned you a task believing that I could trust you and you've done little more than try to ruin our plans! Do you _want _Voldemort to succeed?" He bellowed, sending a petrifying curse to him. He used legilimency to invade his mind seeking answers. "You had best be glad that the boy did not accept your bait, otherwise you'd be lying dead right now. Severus, take him to a holding cell." He demanded, returning to his podium.

Remus cleared his throat. "Um, what about me? Missing memories and all?"

Albus looked to him with sad eyes. "I fear all is lost on that front, my boy. When I scanned Mr. Weasley's mind I found that he had destroyed them. I apologize." He turned to Harry and sighed. "I am sorry that you had doubted me, but perhaps this will strengthen our bond."

Soon Harry was all but ordered from the room so that their meeting could continue. He wandered around the house trying to figure out who he could trust when Snape cornered him. "What do you want?" He demanded, frowning up towards the man.

Severus held up a key, dangling it in front of him. "Before I put him in the cell I looked through his memories. The ones you seek for Remus are intact in a vault that I own and Albus uses on a frequent basis."

Harry looked confused. "But he said-"

Snape crossed his arms and looked the boy square in the eyes. "I'm going to give you some life lessons, Potter. Lesson one, never trust Albus Dumbledore. Everything he has ever done has been interwoven with lies and deceit; he will use anyone he can. Bill was nothing more than a scapegoat. Albus had planned these things to happen; for him to try and cause you to forget and for Lupin's memories to be removed. They'd planned this multiple years in advance. Lesson two, never devote yourself to someone entirely. It does little more than land you in hot water. My allegiances are neither with Voldemort nor Dumbledore; they are with me and what I consider to be right. Lesson three, you should really stop swearing. It's not becoming of you. Lesson four, get to work! The meeting will be over soon, wait outside of the door and I will take both you and Remus to restore his memories."

Harry looked up at the man with wide eyes. He felt as though he could cry. After all of the horrible things he'd put Snape through… the man was still trying to save him. He hugged Severus. "Thank you."

Severus patted his arm awkwardly before prying him away. "Get off me, boy."

* * *

Remus sat on the floor of the vault rubbing at his temples. He could remember everything, and although the timeline was a bit jumbled in his mind, it was all there. Everything from the revelation that Sirius was Harry, to the wild hormones that he'd experienced at their first kiss. He chuckled for a moment. "You've grown up to be quite a powerful young man… well, I suppose 'man' is better fitting; you are older than me."

Harry nodded. "Thank you… you know, I always did have a bit of a crush on you in school…"

Remus looked seriously towards him. "We can't do this, Harry. It's strange. You're my best friend's son."

Harry nodded again, shifting his hands into his lap. "I know…" He whispered.

"You need someone your own age, or your own generation I should say… your original generation. You need someone who doesn't know about all of this. I hear the smallest Weasley has a thing for you."

"Yeah, she always has…" Harry muttered before looking up to him. "Do you think I could… just one last time that I could get a… a kiss? For old time's sake?"

Remus pinched the bridge of his nose but nodded with a chuckle. He reached out a hand and held Harry's chin, pulling him close for a kiss. It was brief, but it was just long enough to get the point across. He dropped his hand and stood, helping Harry up. "What will you do now?"

Harry sighed, cracking his neck. "I don't know." He looked up to Remus quickly stole another kiss.

Remus blinked and raised an eyebrow. "We can't, Harry."

"Why not?"

"I told you, it's bizarre." Remus stated with certainty.

"Is it really?" Harry asked, wrapping his arms around Remus' neck. "Is it that weird? Does this feel unnatural?" He kissed him again, longer this time. His heartbeat sped up as he felt hands go around his waist.

"No…" Remus mumbled against his lips. "No, it doesn't feel wrong…" He pulled away and stared at Harry. "Merlin's sake, you're my godson!"

"I'm nearly 15 years your senior." Harry replied.

"Oh for… fuck it." Remus leaned in and kissed him again. No, it didn't feel weird, it felt taboo in an odd sense and it felt like he was rewriting history, but most importantly… it felt right.

Severus walked in to see the two swapping saliva and immediately cleared his throat. "If you two wouldn't mind waiting until you've found a room that isn't my vault that would be lovely. Now if you don't mind… I believe we have a final battle to prepare for. Potter, I want you and Lupin in my quarters every Friday evening come start of term. We will take down Voldemort, and if need be, anyone else who gets in the way. This includes Albus." He opened the door to his vault and led the two out, pocketing the key. "First lesson; advanced occluding."


End file.
